A heat shield will protect Beagle during descent

Rarely does British science have such a high-profile project to capture the imagination of the young.

Those involved say youngsters often are not aware of the wide industrial applications - such as in the motor industry or even financial services.

Education packs related to Beagle 2 are available from the University of Leicester's Classroom Space website.

Involvement

The university is a principal partner in Beagle 2, responsible for a large part of its scientific payload.

The craft is due to touch down on the Martian surface on Christmas Day.

Prof Barstow says science students have highly valuable skills

Martin Barstow, professor of astrophysics and space science, said: "The response from schools to our Christmas lectures about Mars was just overwhelming - we had to turn people away.

"It shows what interest there is.

"The kind of questions that were being asked shows a pretty high degree of involvement - it's obviously prompting them to think about it.

"Students are notoriously reluctant to ask questions in lectures and when you do get a good spread of questions it's a good indication that they are keen to know what's going on."

A range of resources are available for different ages, challenging students to devise solutions to the sort of problems Beagle 2 has to deal with - such as capturing images, keeping warm and looking for life.

Economic importance

A report from a cross-party committee of MPs last year claimed that too many teenagers found science "tedious and boring".

A more relevant, "science for citizens" GCSE curriculum has been developed - and at the launch of the teaching materials linked to the Mars explorer, the Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, said it was important that pupils make connections with the science they were taught.

Prof Barstow said Beagle 2 was a great opportunity to popularise science, which was vital for the future of the economy.

"We can't really afford as a country for it to be a flash in the pan," he said.

Only a fraction of the people he was teaching at university level would go on to do that sort of headline research - most go into industry with a very broad range of transferable inquiry and analytical skills.

"Without people like that our economy is going to end up in a pretty sad state. It's these kind of people who are driving it."