BRITAIN may be returning to Mars. The scientists who built and lost the Beagle 2 space probe have unveiled an ambitious plan to land three far larger versions of the craft on the red planet.

Colin Pillinger, professor of space science at the Open University, was given a favourable reception when he presented the plans to the three main directors of the European Space Agency at a conference on Friday.

If he and the other senior British scientists supporting the plan win approval and funding, they hope to launch the three probes to Mars in 2009 in an attempt to solve the mystery of whether it may harbour life.

Pillinger said: “Finding life on another planet is still the biggest prize in science. It will tell us whether we are alone in the universe or not. Britain has a chance to be in the frontline in solving that puzzle.”

Since Beagle plunged to its doom on Christmas Day 2003, Mars Express, its mother ship, has been orbiting the red planet and mapping surface features including one which is thought to be a deep-frozen ocean lying just under the surface dust.

If this is confirmed, it could sharply raise the chances of finding life since it would mean that tracts of water must once have covered the surface. It also means Pillinger will be able to pinpoint the best places to land his craft.

Last week’s conference also heard more about Mars Express’s discovery of methane and formaldehyde in the atmosphere. Such gases could be a sign of biological activity because they are destroyed by sunlight and so need constant replenishment. The two most likely sources of such gases would be microbes or volcanic activity.

Pillinger’s proposal is for three craft, each one roughly 2½ times bigger than Beagle, with the technology to work out whether the gases came from microbes or volcanoes. The craft would be superficially similar to Beagle but would contain mini-rover craft as well as the passive instruments borne by their predecessor.

Pillinger said: “The rovers would carry seismometers away from the space probe and place them on the ground to listen for seismic activity. If we have three such instruments scattered around the planet, we can actually pinpoint where the quakes are happening.”

At the same time, another instrument, known as a mass spectrometer, would analyse the “isotopic ratios” of the methane, formaldehyde and water vapour in the Martian atmosphere. This could show whether they were biological or volcanic in origin. On Earth most methane comes from living or dead organisms.

The new Mars project is still in its infancy so costs are hard to estimate, but they are likely to be about £150m-£200m spread across the 14 member countries of the European Space Agency. Germany, France, Switzerland and Belgium have expressed support.

Two of the three Beagles would be launched on a single Soyuz rocket from Kourou in French Guiana, South America.

The third could hitch a ride on a Russian mission to Mars which is being designed to place a probe on Phobos, one of the planet’s two moons. The mission has some extra space that could accommodate one of Pillinger’s “pack” of Beagles.

Both missions would be launched in autumn 2009 and land about 10 months later when Earth and Mars are at their closest, about 45m miles apart.

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