Down an unassuming cul-de-sac somewhere on the outskirts of Stevenage, there is a shed. It is a big shed, but it is a shed nonetheless, as anonymous in its concrete and corrugated cladding as a shed can be. Anyone passing wouldn’t give the building a second thought, but step through its door and you’re in another world.
This is the Mars Yard, a state-of-the-art research facility built and operated by Airbus Defence & Space for the European Space Agency. Inside, a group of rocket scientists have had a lot of fun recreating the surface of the Red Planet. The floor is carpeted with the driest sand money can buy. The walls are lined with life-size photographic images of the Martian landscape. Squint a bit to
