] The second wave of a Martian invasion will start Saturday
] night with the arrival of NASA's Spirit rover on the Red
] Planet.

Timeline:

 - 12/25/2003: Europe's Beagle 2 (named after Darwin's
vessel) may or may not have come to a safe landing. The bouncing
landings can send a craft a half-mile away from an intended landing
site, so it may have bounced itself into a crater.

 - 12/25-12/31: NASA's Mars Odyssey tried to pick up
signals from Beagle 2 every time it passed over the landing site,
to no avail.

 - Saturday evening, 1/3: JPL's Mars Rover "Spirit" attempts
to bounce to a landing at 11:35 p.m. ET.

 - Tuesday, 1/6: The European mothership Mars Express
will orbit Mars and attempt to pick up a signal from the AWOL
Beagle 2. This will be the first of four attempts,
scheduled for January 6th, 12th, 13th, and 17th. More info about
the Search for Beagle here:
http://planetary.org/html/news/articlearchive/headlines/2003/beagle2search.html

 - January 24th, a second Mars Rover, Opportunity will
attempt to bounce to its own landing.

Good luck to all!

Elonka :)