Professor Colin Pillinger was the driving force behind a mini “British Space Programme” that would have rivelled the Soviet imitative – and defied the US domination of the time (2003). We were staying with my parents in Torquay during the Xmas season of 2003 – and we kept the radio on through the night to listen to live coverage – to be part of the “British” probe landing on Mars! As Beagle 2 approached Mars all was fine – but as it came down to land – all suddenly went “silent”. For months afterwards there was speculation – but no answers. Then, in 2014, a US probe discovered a partly “landed” Beagle 2 – which seemed to have deployed – but only after trapping its only aerial (preventing all communication). Professor Colin Pillinger had passed-away just 8-months before his space-machine was discovered – and proven to have been mostly successful. Someone commented to me that this was like “Dunkirk” all-over again! We can take it.
