Author Topic: ESA - Mars Express updates (Read 149174 times)

jacqmans · « **Reply #40 on:** 09/22/2008 05:07 pm »

Mars polar cap mystery solved

22 September 2008

Scientists are now able to better explain why Mars's residual southern ice cap is misplaced, thanks to data from ESA's Mars Express spacecraft - the martian weather system is to blame. And so is the largest impact crater on Mars even though it is nowhere near the south pole.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMO78Q4KKF_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #41 on:** 09/26/2008 09:34 am »

The High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA's Mars Express obtained images of the Mangala Fossae trough, a system of outflow channels on Mars that bears evidence of lava deposition and catastrophic floods.

Read more in our 'Focus on':
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMB4QQ4KKF_FeatureWeek_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #42 on:** 10/16/2008 02:29 pm »

European space scientists are getting closer to unravelling the origin of Mars' larger moon, Phobos. Thanks to a series of close encounters by ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, the moon looks almost certain to be a 'rubble pile', rather than a single solid object. However, mysteries remain about where the rubble came from.

Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMB82TG7MF_index_0.html

iamlucky13 · « **Reply #43 on:** 10/16/2008 06:29 pm »

Phobos-Grunt just keeps on looking more and more compelling. Hopefully Russia carries forward with it.

jacqmans · « **Reply #44 on:** 11/22/2008 02:26 am »

Scientists using ESA's Mars Express have produced the first crude map of aurorae on Mars. These displays of ultraviolet light appear to be located close to the residual magnetic fields generated by Mars's crustal rocks. They highlight a number of mysteries about the way Mars interacts with electrically charged particles originating from the Sun.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMY1B5DHNF_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #45 on:** 11/28/2008 03:58 pm »

The High Resolution Stereo Camera on board ESA's Mars Express imaged the Eumenides Dorsum mountains on the Red Planet.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMRS2AWYNF_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #46 on:** 12/11/2008 07:14 pm »

Data and images from Mars Express suggest that several Light Toned Deposits, some of the least understood features on Mars, were formed when large amounts of groundwater burst on to the surface. Scientists propose that groundwater had a greater role in shaping the martian surface than previously believed, and may have sheltered primitive life forms as the planet started drying up.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMJDBSTGOF_0.html

Yeknom-Ecaps · « **Reply #47 on:** 02/05/2009 02:52 am »

Mars Express January 2009 status report states an orbit maneuver in December 2008. Anyone have details (date/time it took place, length of firing, orbit change, etc.).

Thanks.

jacqmans · « **Reply #48 on:** 02/10/2009 01:31 pm »

ESA's Science Programme Committee has extended the operations of ESA's Mars Express, Venus Express and Cluster missions until 31 December 2009.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMACI05VQF_index_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #49 on:** 03/19/2009 06:50 pm »

Mars Express has uncovered geological evidence suggesting that some depositional process, revealed by erosion, has been at work on large scales in the equatorial regions of the planet. If so, this would provide another jigsaw piece to be fitted into the emerging picture of Mars' past climate.

Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8MQJTYRF_index_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #50 on:** 04/24/2009 03:09 pm »

Images taken by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera, show the region of Ariadnes Colles on the Red Planet.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM8JKANJTF_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #51 on:** 06/05/2009 03:19 pm »

Craters and channels in Hephaestus Fossae

5 June 2009
The High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA's Mars Express orbiter has obtained images of Hephaestus Fossae, a region on Mars dotted with craters and channel systems.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMSKCVTGVF_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #52 on:** 10/09/2009 12:29 pm »

Mars Express imaged Daedalia Planum, a sparsely cratered, untextured plain on the Red Planet featuring solidified lava flows of varying ages.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM5TDF280G_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #53 on:** 11/06/2009 03:02 pm »

Mars Express flew over the boundary between Kasei Valles and Sacra Fossae and imaged the region, acquiring spectacular views of the chaotic terrain in the area.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMLEQCUE1G_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #54 on:** 12/11/2009 12:09 pm »

For the very first time, the martian moons Phobos and Deimos have been caught on camera together. ESA's Mars Express orbiter took these pioneering images last month. Apart from their 'wow' factor, these unique images will help the HRSC team validate and refine existing orbit models of the two moons.

More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMDOE7JT2G_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #55 on:** 02/03/2010 12:41 pm »

Craters young and old in Sirenum Fossae

3 February 2010
The Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera has imaged craters both young and old in this view of the Southern Highlands of Mars.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJLFSJR4G_index_0.html

jacqmans · « **Reply #56 on:** 02/16/2010 09:59 am »

Phobos flyby season starts again

16 February 2010
Today Mars Express began a series of flybys of Phobos, the largest moon of Mars. The campaign will reach its crescendo on 3 March, when the spacecraft will set a new record for the closest pass to Phobos, skimming the surface at just 50 km. The data collected could help untangle the origin of this mysterious moon.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM4Q1NEG5G_index_0.html

eeergo · « **Reply #57 on:** 03/01/2010 07:03 pm »

Some news about the Phobos flybys coming up this week:

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMFKA6K56G_index_0.html

Apparently, overperformance in an adjustment maneuver means the closest approach distance will be raised to 67 km, instead of the planned 50 km, because this closest distance would mean an occultation by Phobos which could degrade the Doppler shift measurements of the carrier signal. However, this doesn't mean we'll lose eye-catching images from a few kilometers closer, because no optical observations were planned at closest approach.

jacqmans · « **Reply #58 on:** 03/02/2010 10:44 am »

ESA's Mars Express will skim the surface of Mars' largest moon Phobos on Wednesday evening, at an altitude of 67 km. Closest approach at:

Full coverage at: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html

Phobos flyby blog: http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/7

On twitter at: http://www.twitter.com/esa

bolun · « **Reply #59 on:** 03/05/2010 08:04 pm »

Phobos Flyby Success

4 March 2010

Mars Express encountered Phobos last night, smoothly skimming past at just 67 km, the closest any manmade object has ever approached Mars’ enigmatic moon. The data collected could help unlock the origin of not just Phobos but other ‘second generation’ moons.

Last night’s flyby was just one of a campaign of 12 Mars Express flybys taking place in February and March 2010. For the previous two, the radar was working, attempting to probe beneath the surface of the moon, looking for reflections from structures inside. In the coming flybys, the Mars Express camera will take over, providing high resolution pictures of the moon’s surface.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMIPX6K56G_index_0.html