Britain's Professor Colin Pillinger, Beagle 2 lead scientist, takes questions from the floor after it was announced that the Beagle 2 lander craft had separated from the mother ship Mars Express on its way towards Mars, at a news conference in London, December 19, 2003. British spacecraft Beagle 2, the size of an open umbrella, began the final leg of its mission to find life on Mars on Friday as it successfully disengaged from the mother ship Mars Express that has carried it 100 million kilometres from earth. REUTERS/Russell Boyce  RUS/ASA/AA Stock Photo