Late this month, ESA’s Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet’s largest moon Phobos, skimming past at only 45 km above its surface.The flyby on 29 December will be so close and fast that Mars Express will not be able to take any images, but instead it will yield the most accurate details yet of the moon’s gravitational field and, in turn, provide new details of its internal structure.
http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/07/27/earth-seen-from-mars-we-are-here/Earth seen from Mars: We are hereImage credit: ESA/Mars Express/VMC
Access the full VMC image archivehttp://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/12/17/access-the-full-vmc-image-archive/ESA Mars Express HRSC images now available under a Creative Commons licencehttp://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/12/18/esa-mars-express-hrsc-images-now-available-under-a-creative-commons-licence/
.... Mars Express established a communication link with NASA's Curiosity rover (MSL) on the surface of Mars to conduct an important test prior to the arrival of ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), carrying the the ExoMars Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM), Schiaparelli, in October.The test saw Curiosity serve as a stand-in (rove-in?) for Schiaparelli on the surface, transmitting a signal to MEX similar to how Schiaparelli will transmit during landing on 19 October. From orbit above, MEX had its lander communication system (Melacom) – with recently updated software – configured as it will be in October, and the orbiter tested receiving signals from below.
Quote from: bolun on 12/22/2014 10:24 amAccess the full VMC image archivehttp://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/12/17/access-the-full-vmc-image-archive/ESA Mars Express HRSC images now available under a Creative Commons licencehttp://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/12/18/esa-mars-express-hrsc-images-now-available-under-a-creative-commons-licence/Mars Webcam goes prohttp://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Webcam_goes_proVMC The Mars Webcam (Flickr)https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/