munich

British space scientists are making an urgent appeal to private funders to support a small equipment package that would land on the surface of Mars as part of the Mars Express mission.

The Mars Express spacecraft was originally developed to carry instruments duplicating those lost when the Russian Mars 96 mission, intended to analyse the martian atmosphere, failed on launch in 1996. At an early stage, however, its scope was broadened to include a lander to transmit data on the atmosphere and the planet's surface back to Earth.

The UK-led lander, called Beagle, has been approved for inclusion, but only if its principal investigator, Colin Pillinger, director of the Planetary Sciences Research Institute at the Open University in Milton Keynes, can raise private funding.

Estimated to cost around £25 million (US$43 million), Beagle would look in particular for evidence of life or former life on the planet. But its prospects appear bleak. The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council has said it cannot afford to contribute, and Pillinger has only until the end of October to present his financial plan to ESA.

The launch of Mars Express is scheduled for 2003 and cannot be delayed, as it depends on planetary alignments. If Pillinger cannot obtain funding, ESA is likely to close the option on the feasibility studies of Mars Express, due to start in November.