Beagle 2 has successfully separated from its "mothership" for the final leg of the journey to Mars. Mike McKay, flight operations director at the European Space Operations Centre (Esoc) at Darmstadt, Germany, confirmed the separation just after 1110 GMT. The tiny probe will now glide the last three million kilometres to the Red Planet alone; silent, powerless and in hibernation mode. The lander is expected to touch down on Mars on Christmas Day, to search for signs of life, past or present. "This was definitely a case of seize the moment. Mars is closer to Earth today than it has been ever in the last 60,000 years," Pillinger said. "This was the one opportunity when Europe was going to launch a spacecraft to Mars. And far be it for me to find myself in a position years from now saying: 'I missed it.'" At 0710 GMT, Esoc's ground control team gave the go-ahead to separate Beagle 2 from Mars Express. On Tuesday, ground controllers manoeuvred Mars Express into the optimal position to release Beagle 2.
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