Severe storms on Mars could threaten the success of Beagle 2 landing on the Red Planet on Christmas Day. Beagle 2, built and designed at EADS Astrium in Stevenage, will begin the most crucial part of its journey to the Red Planet when it leaves its mother ship Mars Express tomorrow morning (Friday). It will then hurtle towards Mars at 21,000kph and be monitored on the final five days of its journey by scientists and technicians at the National Space Centre (NSC) in Leicester.