The 1st Mars Society UK 1-day Symposium proved a great success. Held on the 19th January 2002, the event was attended by over 100 people of all ages and backgrounds. Featuring a total of 5 keynote speakers, the event promised to bring a huge amount of expertise and knowledge on Mars and exploring Mars together in one place. The morning got off to a flying start with Dr. Robert Zubrin appearing on the BBC News 24 morning bulletin, which not only gave him a chance to talk about the Society and Mars Direct, but which also lead directly to a number of additional attendees coming along to the event afterwards. After the opening address from the Mars Society UK President, Bo Maxwell, the event got underway with a 75-minutes presentation and Question and Answer session with Professor Colin Pillinger of the Beagle 2 project. During his talk, Professor Pillinger reviewed the history and progress of the Beagle 2 mission, before looking towards next year and the lander’s launch aboard the Mars Express mission in June 2003. He also looked at the science Beagle 2 will be taking to Mars and related it back to studies of Martian meteorites here on Earth, bringing the audience right up to date with the latest thoughts on ALH84001 and other meteorites.