For those of us who follow space exploration.

Mars Express, carrying the Beagle 2 lander, is the European Space Agency's first planetary mission. It was launched back in June from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket.

The Beagle 2 has separated from the Mars Express mothership, and is on schedule for a landing in the Isidis basin on Christmas morning. Today (20-DEC-03) the ESA is retargeting the Mars Express for an orbital insertion course.

Here's hoping that it will be a very Merry Christmas in Darmstadt!

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Eudaimonia