Curiosity (rover) no chance of obtaining funds in Europe, at that time, of the scale previously considered necessary for a Mars rover, so the team used innovative methods to reduce the cost to less than 4% of the cost of the "Curiosity" mission. They also had only one shot, with no funding for repeat missions (it was named "Beagle 2" as a successor to , not to an earlier rover). It was considered a large risk, and, although "Beagle 2" did successfully survive its entry, descent, and landing, incomplete deployment of the solar panels hampered communication back to Earth. The team has
NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science NASA Earth Science, formerly called the NASA Earth Science Enterprise (ESE), formerly called Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE), is a NASA research program "to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and its response to natural and human-induced changes to enable improved prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards for present and future generations". "To improve life here" and "To understand and protect our home planet," NASA supports research in the Earth Sciences and, as part of its Earth Observing System (EOS), launches and maintains Earth observing satellites to monitor the state of the climate, atmospheric