Mars on Earth

rmohr02 writes "According to Reuters, scientists at Leicester University have recreated the atmospheric conditions of Mars in order to aid in planning the mission of the Beagle 2, set to leave for Mars in May 2003 and arrive the following December. The Beagle 2 will be searching for life and plans to set down on top of an underground lake."

Not as impressive...

[Cmdr Taco (luser)]

...as what a poster to another article showed us here [slashdot.org]

The Leicester people have "...recreated the hostile Martian atmosphere in a box the size of a desktop computer"

Whereas NASA Ames Research has "...a vacuum chamber more than 6 meters across"

Re:Not as impressive...

[Alsee]

I could be mistaken, but I think the NASA vacuum chamber has earth atmosphere at martian pressures, so the "desktop computer" sized martian atmosphere would still be unique.

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Leicester University create Mars-in-a-box...

[meringuoid]

... put Beagle 2 probe inside, save millions on interplanetary transport costs. ... put Damon Albarn inside, save having to hear the fscking Gorillaz ever again. ... put Damien Hirst inside, save innocent cows.

Re:Uhh...

[herraukuli]

Perhaps send in chechen and taleban astronauts and allow them to play jihad on the red planet, no?