Beagle $2$ Mars Probe$-$A Planning Failure

As the Beagle $2$ Mars probe designed jointly by the European Space Agency and British National Space Center headed to Mars in December of $2003,$ contact was lost and it was never heard from again. In retrospect, it appears that inadequate project planning $($and replanning$)$ was to blame. Excessive pressure on time, cost, and weight compromised the mission right from the start. With insufficient public funding, the design team had to spend much of their time raising private funds instead of addressing difficult technical issues. In addition, late changes forced the team to reduce the Beagle's weight from $238$ pounds to $132$ pounds! And when the three airbags failed to work properly in testing, a parachute design was substituted but inadequately tested due to lack of time.

A review commission recommended that in the future:

Requisite financing be available at the outset of a project

Formal project reviews be conducted on a regular basis

Phase$-$gates be established where all stakeholders reconsider the project Expectations of potential failure be included in the funding consideration Robust safety margins be included and funded for uncertainties

Questions

What should the PM have done about the challenges facing this project?

Are the recommendations complete? Would you add anything else?