The Beagle Had Landed

Apollo first took Man to Moon

En route to reach the stars
Inspiring Colin Pillinger
To send a probe to Mars
Beagle 2 they named it
After Darwin's ship
While that once sailed uncharted seas
Through space was bound this trip
Gases were discovered
In Antarctic asteroid
So then to find some answers
If problems could avoid

Design it was so complex

It had to fit inside

A capsule on the Mars Express

For this historic ride

Colour spots by Damien

Included on a plate

So camera and equipment

Be made to calibrate

Band Blur composed the call sign

So all would understand

When hopefully on Christmas Day

This lander would reach land

But they received no signal

At Earth’s mission control

And so they knew that Beagle 2

Would not fulfil its role

Upon the far Red Planet

Its fate remained unknown

Until some 12 years later

A NASA image shown

To prove it made the surface

If slightly left askew

But sadly its inventor

This triumph never knew.

Beagle 2 Lander, Science Photo Library Image.jpg