June 2 blast off for Mars express

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Mars Express, the European mission to the Red Planet which could find the first conclusive proof of extraterrestrial life, will blast off on June 2.

A launch party hosted by BT will take place in London with a live link to the 6.45pm launch in Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft is due to reach Mars in December, where it will go into orbit and deploy the British-led Beagle 2 lander.

Beagle 2 is specifically designed to look for past or present life on Mars.

The probe has a robot arm and "mole" for gathering rock and soil samples, and instruments for identifying the tell-tale signs of life.

Pictures and information will be beamed live to the launch party up until the rocket's upper stage separation 90 minutes after take off.