Beagle on the Moon in 2012?

Head of Planetary and Space Sciences at Open University, UK Professor Colin Pillinger, may have a chance to place Beagle 2 technology on the Moon early in the next decade if talks proceed to a successful conclusion with NASA.

The Beagle to the Moon mission would search for water supplies on the surface that could support astronauts living on a future moon base. NASA has given the go-ahead for a study into adapting the British Beagle 2 for a moon landing. If it formally approves the mission next year, it could launch in 2012 resuing many of the designs for instruments that flew on the ill-fated Mars mission.

Best known within the space community for the effort to place a spacecraft to hunt for life on Mars on December 25, 2003 just prior to the NASA Mars Exploration Rovers, the Beagle 2 spacecraft crashed never to be heard at during the landing cycle on Mars.