SCHOOL children were told they can do anything if they put their mind to it when a world famous space scientist came to meet them.

Year 11 pupils of The Bourne Academy were treated to a special one hour question-and-answer session with none other than Professor Mark Sims - the mission manager of the Beagle 2 Mars Lander.

The Professor in astrobiology and space instrumentation, at the University of Leicester, told the 15 and 16-year-olds that they could achieve anything providing they had the enthusiasm.

He was due to go to Kingsleigh Primary School yesterday afternoon where he would show part of a meteorite from Mars which was the size of a couple of grains, he said.

“I’ve been talking about looking for life on Mars and exploring the solar system and looking for life elsewhere - all the different areas of science,” he said, adding that he also spoke of the crossover of his work into medicine.

He is a co-director of the diagnostics development unit based at Leicester Royal Infirmary. The department is developing techniques for non-invasive diagnoses of disease to be used in emergency care, measuring temperature abnormalities using infra-red imaging.

He said: “A space mission needs technicians, economists, engineers, people who can plan. I’m trying to emphasise to the children that if they do a career in physics they can work in lots of different areas and do lots of different things.

“It’s about trying to get the children to know that things are bigger than one subject. They shouldn’t accept limits imposed on them. They can do anything they want providing they have got the willpower.

“One of these kids could be standing on Mars in 20 years.”

Heather Carney, one of the science teachers, said: “The children have asked some really interesting questions; he’s a real expert in his field and the children have been really lucky to speak to him.

“He’s been talking about the history of Mars and exploring Mars and space and how the techniques can be engineered to be used in medicine.”

One of her favourite questions asked during the session was: “If you found bacteria in space, would it be counted as an alien?”