Paris
The European Space Agency has launched its first planetary explorer, with the help of British pop band Blur. The Paris-based ESA has a far smaller budget than NASA, so it had to rely on corporate sponsorship and private donations to launch the Beagle 2, a British-built craft named after Charles Darwin’s ship. Blur drummer Dave Rowntree told the London Guardian that his desire to promote a British space program blossomed after his band visited a NASA space center in Houston and met British scientists who couldn’t find work in the U.K. “What we had to bring was our celebrity badgering power,” Rowntree said. Blur lobbied rich friends to support Europe’s Mars exploration program, and even wrote the nine-note tune that Beagle 2 will play each time it radios home. Touchdown on Mars is scheduled for Christmas Day.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Exploring ancient forests on three continentsThe Week Recommends Reconnecting with historic nature across the world
-
How oil tankers have been weaponisedThe Explainer The seizure of a Russian tanker in the Atlantic last week has drawn attention to the country’s clandestine shipping network
-
The rise of the spymaster: a ‘tectonic shift’ in Ukraine’s politicsIn the Spotlight President Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff, former head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, is widely viewed as a potential successor
