SCIENTISTS funded by a Swindon-based research council are recreating the hostile environment found on Mars with a device known as the Martian Environment Simulator.
The machine reproduces the temperatures, air pressure and unbreathable atmosphere known to exist on the Red Planet.
The MES is being used by researchers at the University of Leicester's Space Research Centre to test equipment on the Beagle 2 lander, part of the European Space Agency's Mars Express Spacecraft which is due to arrive on Mars at Christmas 2003.
It is the latest project to be funded by the North Star-based Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.
The chance of Beagle 2 finding life, either current or past, on the planet has increased recently due to the discovery of ice beneath the surface.
The MES will be used to test all future instruments for planetary science being developed at the Space Research Centre.
Instruments that work in space need to be thoroughly tested to ensure that they will work in the extreme conditions found there and also to calibrate the readings that will be transmitted back to Earth.
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