Members of the British and European space agencies decided to keep the info under wraps because they didn't want to put people off giving evidence.

However, Professor Colin Pillinger, who was in the Beagle team, reckons the failure was down to a Martian heatwave.

He says the temperature change meant that Beagle's landing gear didn't work.

Beagle was designed to explore the Red Planet for signs of life.

There has been no contact with it since it was launched from its mother ship in December.

The scientists who carried out the report said no-one was to blame.

"No single event led to failure and no individual made a bad decision," they said.