The British Beagle 2 spacecraft landed successfully on Mars' surface, David Parker, the chief executive of the UK Space Agency has confirmed.
The probe was thought lost after attempting a Christmas Day landing on the planet in 2003.
The daughter of the space scientist behind the Beagle 2 project has said her late father would have been pleased to "defy the critics who wanted to say that Beagle 2 is a failure".
Professor Colin Pillinger's daughter Shusanah said: "He would have loved that this shows Beagle 2 landed on Mars, it got all the way through the entry and descend and the processes. It unravelled some of its solar panels.
"This shows such an immense success and not forgetting all the other things that went on in the background of Beagle 2, all the promotion of science, all of the inspiration to children.
"He would love that this is in the news again. He would love that this could inspire that next generation to do Beagle 3."
Adding that his death last year had been tough for her family, she said: "We are trying to carry on what dad would have wanted. He was someone who wanted science to be communicated to everybody. We want everybody to be aware of Beagle 2, to be inspired by it.
"But there is a tinge of sadness that he can't be here. You can see that in the room where all his colleagues, all the people he worked with, everybody is gutted he cannot be here."
For 12 years Beagle 2 was feared lost but today it has been hailed after images showed the probe successfully landed on Mars in 2003.
Out of this world: Five fun facts about Beagle 2
Evidence suggests the missing British Beagle 2 spacecraft, reportedly built in a Professor's shed, did land successfully on Mars in 2003.