Mars is just around the corner
I have to share a picture with you. It features the UK planetary scientist .
Colin, you will remember, was behind the gallant effort to put a lander on the surface of the Red Planet late in 2003.
was carried to Earth's neighbour by Europe's . It was ejected from the satellite and sent towards the atmosphere, but that was the last we saw of it.
Some believe that Beagle got down but for whatever reason couldn't contact home; (and this seems to be the official line) it encountered a thinner atmosphere than expected and simply opened its chute too late. In other words, it went smack into the ground.
For a while, Colin was the most famous scientist in Britain. In the build-up to the landing, his face - and those famous whiskers - were hardly off the TV.
I caught up with Colin the other evening at a new photographic exhibition, , which is being displayed at the Royal Albert Hall.
It features many of the UK's leading astronomers and planetary scientists - all in poses and settings that say something about them and the disciplines they follow.
The pictures are a celebration of the , and are the work of , a professional photographer and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
He's got some smashing images with some great stories behind them, and we'll have a special feature with Max talking about a selection of them in the coming days.
But it was the picture of Colin that caught my eye because it was taken just around the corner from where I used to live.
It's Sandy quarry in Bedfordshire. It's an analogue - as they say - for the Martian surface: the are tested there (as was Beagle).
It's the perfect location if you have a bit of kit that needs to be able to cope with rocks and dirt with a red tinge.
Yep: Mars is closer than you think.
Max let me in on a secret, though: he had to touch up the picture to paint out the little bits of greenery that had sprouted up between the rocks.
Those familiar with the area will know that the dominating feature on the landscape is the ; if you look very closely at Colin's visor, you can see the mighty mast in reflection.
±õ’m 
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