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http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Results_from_Mars_Express_and_Huygens/SEM7ZTULWFE_0.html
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It's starring us in the face. Let's get to Mars and see what it has to obviously offer.
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"Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink..."
Unless you stick a well in it and have a sip. It would be a hard life at first and it may never be easy, but an enterprising and intrepid group of people could make a living there. This is confirmation.
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And there's more from Titan as well.
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FransonUK - 1/12/2005 8:44 AM
And there's more from Titan as well.
Thanks ESA and JPL, great work...
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They call it the happy face image, but I think it looks more like Pacman!
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMMTFNFGLE_0.html
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great !
I wonder what those conspiracy nuts think of this, will the add it to the cydonia face and martian pyramids
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By mapping minerals on the surface of Mars using the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, scientists have discovered the three ages of Martian geological history - as reported in today's issue of Science - and found valuable clues as to where life might have developed.
Full story:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM117OFGLE_index_0.html
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Funny ages names... I love the "siderikian";)
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my question is -- if there was life in Mars, billions of years ago, and nobody lived, that means that there wasn't intelligent life there, or else they'd have manage to adapt - whcih makes me think that there wasn't life at all, because even roaches adapt to new living conditions...
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Fab - 26/4/2006 9:17 PM
my question is -- if there was life in Mars, billions of years ago, and nobody lived, that means that there wasn't intelligent life there, or else they'd have manage to adapt - whcih makes me think that there wasn't life at all, because even roaches adapt to new living conditions...
Ha! Intelligence has yet to be proven to be an advantage! If we are still here in 100 million years I might take your argument seriously! :)
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eeergo - 21/4/2006 6:54 AM
Funny ages names... I love the "siderikian";)
Yes, but quite appropriate for the red planet because I think siderikian = age of iron. Also, Phyllocian (or phyllosian) = age of sheets or leaves (presumably mica of some other sheet-like mineral); and theiikian = age of sulphate.
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Planetary scientists have discovered the highest clouds above any planetary surface. They found them above Mars using the SPICAM instrument on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. The results are a new piece in the puzzle of how the Martian atmosphere works.
More at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMC4JZ7QQE_0.html
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CO2 crystal clouds at 80 to 100 km height? Mars Odyssey seems to have passed at 95 km at lowest when aerocapturing... What if it had met one of these?
( http://ccar.colorado.edu/asen5050/projects/projects_2004/dunn/ )
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Here's a 30 km limb cloud seen by MGS; I belive the shot on ESA's site is from Pathfinder...
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/09/07/
Simon ;)
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simonbp - 28/8/2006 11:36 AM
Here's a 30 km limb cloud seen by MGS; I belive the shot on ESA's site is from Pathfinder...
http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/09/07/
Simon ;)
You're correct
I quote : http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMC4JZ7QQE_1.html
'This true-colour view taken by NASA's Pathfinder rover in August 1997 shows clouds in the Martian eastern sky (30 degrees above the horizon), as imaged before sunrise.'
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The origin of perennial water-ice at the South Pole of Mars
13 July 2007
Thanks to data from ESA's Mars Express mission, combined with models of the Martian climate, scientists can now suggest how the orbit of Mars around the Sun affects the deposition of water ice at the Martian South Pole.
Early during the mission, the OMEGA instrument (Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer) on board Mars Express had already found previously undetected perennial deposits of water-ice. They are sitting on top of million-year old layered terrains and provide strong evidence for a recent glacial activity.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMKZRNSP3F_index_0.html
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The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express obtained images of the Tyrrhena Terra region on Mars.
Read more:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM72PB474F_index_0.html
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Have you discovered the HSRC web interface ? 3D projections as well.
DJ Barney
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The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has obtained pictures of the Noachis Terra region on Mars, in particular, the striking Maunder crater.
Full story at:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMOHJAMS7F_index_0.html
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NEWS RELEASE: 2007-126 Nov. 1, 2007
Mars Express Probes Red Planet's Unusual Deposits
The radar system on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has uncovered new details about some of the most mysterious deposits on Mars: the Medusae Fossae Formation. It has provided the first direct measurement of the depth and electrical properties of these materials, providing new clues about their origin.
The Medusae Fossae Formation consists of enigmatic deposits. Found near the Martian equator along a divide between highlands and lowlands, they may represent some of the youngest deposits on the surface of the planet. This is implied because there is a marked lack of impact craters dotting these deposits.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages NASA's roles in the Mars Express mission. Mars Express has been collecting data on the Medusae Fossae Formation deposits using its Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (Marsis). Between March 2006 and April 2007, Mars Express flew over the Medusae Fossae Formation deposits many times, taking radar soundings as it went.
"This is the first direct measurement of the depth of these deposits," said Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., lead author of a new report on the findings in the journal Science. "We didn't know whether they were just a thin veneer or much thicker." The radar observations found the Medusae Fossae Formation to be massive deposits more than 2.5 kilometers (1.4 miles) thick in places. The instrument reveals the depth based on the time it takes for the radar beam to pass through the layers and bounce off the plains material underneath.
The Medusae Fossae deposits intrigue scientists because they are associated with regions that absorb certain wavelengths of Earth-based radar. This had led to them being called "stealth" regions, because they give no radar echo. However, the radar instrument on Mars Express uses longer wavelengths than Earth-based radar experiments. At these wavelengths, the radar waves mostly pass through the deposits, creating subsurface echoes when the radar signal reflects off the plains material beneath.
A variety of scenarios has been proposed for the origin and composition of these deposits. Firstly, they could be volcanic ash deposits from now-buried vents or nearby volcanoes. Secondly, they could be deposits of wind-blown materials eroded from Martian rocks. Thirdly, they could be ice-rich deposits, somewhat similar to the layered ice deposits at the poles of the planet, but formed when the spin axis of Mars tilts over, making the equatorial region colder.
Deciding among these scenarios is not easy, even with the new data. The Marsis data reveal the electrical properties of the layers. These suggest that the layers could be poorly packed, fluffy, dusty material. However it is difficult to understand how porous material from wind-blown dust can be more than two kilometers (more than a mile) thick and yet not be compacted under the weight of the overlying material.
On the other hand, although the electrical properties are consistent with water-ice layers, there is no other strong evidence for the presence of ice today in the equatorial regions of Mars. "If there is water ice at the equator of Mars, it must be buried at least several meters below the surface," said co-author Jeffrey Plaut of JPL. This is because the water vapor pressure on Mars is so low that any ice near the surface would quickly evaporate.
So, the mystery of Mars's Medusae Fossae Formation continues. "It is still early in the game. We may get cleverer with our analysis and interpretation, or we may only know when we go there with a drill and see for ourselves," Plaut said.
Giovanni Picardi at the University of Rome "La Sapienza," Italy, principal investigator of the radar experiment, said "Not only is Marsis providing excellent scientific results, but the team is also working on the processing techniques that will allow for more accurate evaluation of the characteristics of the subsurface layers and their constituent material. Hence, the possible extension of the mission will be very important to increase the number of observations over the regions of interest and improve the accuracy of the evaluations."
The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding was funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency and developed by the University of Rome in partnership with JPL. Italy provided the instrument's digital processing system and integrated the parts. The University of Iowa, Iowa City, built the transmitter for the instrument, JPL built the receiver, and Astro Aerospace, Carpinteria, Calif., built the antenna. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
For additional information about Mars Express, see http://sci.esa.int/marsexpress . For additional information about NASA's Mars exploration, see http://www.nasa.gov/mars .
-end-
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The radar system on ESA's Mars Express has uncovered new details about some of the most mysterious deposits on Mars: The Medusae Fossae Formation. It has given the first direct measurement of the depth and electrical properties of these materials, providing new clues about their origin.
Full story:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM0J2FWB8F_0.html
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Ah so what they mean to say is that it's a 2 km thick hill of different material sitting on the plains on Mars and it's true composition as well as formation is unknown, but it's different from the surroundings. Deposit is a much too general word to describe it.
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On 25 December 2003, Europe's first Mars explorer arrived at the Red Planet. Almost four years later, Mars Express continues to rewrite the text books as its instruments send back a stream of images and other data. Today, the spacecraft reached another milestone in its remarkable career by completing 5000 orbits of Mars.
Full story:
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM3OQ63R8F_index_0.html
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ESA presents Mars in 3D
Mars is about to come into 3D focus as never before, thanks to the data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). A new high-resolution Digital Terrain Model data set that is about to be released onto the Internet, will allow researchers to obtain new information about the Red Planet in 3D.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8Q2PR4CF_index_0.html
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Is there life on Mars? ESA's Mars Express satellite, launched in 2003, has been scanning and mapping the surface of our rocky neighbour, and it has found that there are both substantial deposits of water ice below the Martian crust and traces of methane in the Martian atmosphere. The next step is ExoMars, due for launch in 2013, which will place a lander on the surface of the red planet with the express aim of searching for past or present signs of life. EuroNews talked to the scientists at the cutting edge of this research.
More at:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMAXUPR4CF_index_0.html
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Deep valleys of Candor Chasma
15 February 2008
Mars Express took snapshots of Candor Chasma, a valley in the northern part of Valles Marineris, as it was in orbit above the region on 6 July 2006.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM8Q7VHJCF_index_0.html
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Mars and Venus are surprisingly similar
5 March 2008
Using two ESA spacecraft, planetary scientists are watching the atmospheres of Mars and Venus being stripped away into space. The simultaneous observations by Mars Express and Venus Express give scientists the data they need to investigate the evolution of the two planets' atmospheres.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMGQGK26DF_index_0.html
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Mars Express reveals the Red Planet's volcanic past
14 March 2008
A new analysis of impact cratering data from Mars reveals that the planet has undergone a series of global volcanic upheavals. These violent episodes spewed lava and water onto the surface, sculpting the landscape that ESA's Mars Express looks down on today.
http://asimov.esrin.esa.int/esaCP/SEMCPLM5NDF_index_0.html
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ESA’s Mars Express radar sounder, MARSIS, has looked beneath the martian surface and opened up the third dimension for planetary exploration. The technique’s success is prompting scientists to think of all the other places in the Solar System where they would like to use radar sounders.
Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMIF74XQEF_0.html
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Artificial intelligence boosts science from Mars
29 April 2008
Artificial intelligence (AI) being used at the European Space Operations Centre is giving a powerful boost to ESA's Mars Express as it searches for signs of past or present life on the Red Planet.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1RL2QGFF_index_0.html
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The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express obtained images of a region at the end of Mamers Valles, a long, winding valley. The focus is on a circular depression that contains a crater.
Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMKPM0YUFF_0.html
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Mars Express mission controllers ready for NASA Phoenix landing
20 May 2008
ESA's Mars Express mission control team are ready to monitor Phoenix's critical entry, descent and landing onto the Martian surface on 26 May 2008.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8KD0YUFF_index_0.html
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Waiting for Sunday and hopefully some interesting pictures of the landing, or the approach. 15 minute 20 second delay for distance, but maybe some pictures.
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Timeline: Mars Express support to Phoenix landing
22 May 2008
Beginning late on 25 May, Mars Express will execute a series of pre-programmed commands specially designed to support NASA's Phoenix lander. The ESA spacecraft will conduct a high-speed slew, enabling it to track Phoenix as it enters the martian atmosphere.
Read more at:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM3ZB1YUFF_0.html
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Echus Chasma
14 July 2008
The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express has returned images of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on the Red Planet.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM4CATHKHF_index_0.html
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Mars Express to rendezvous with Martian moon
16 July 2008
Scientists and engineers are preparing ESA's Mars Express for a pair of close fly-bys of the Martian moon Phobos. Passing within 100 km of the surface, Mars Express will conduct some of the most detailed investigations of the moon to date.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMVGAWIPIF_index_0.html
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Mars Express acquires sharpest images of martian moon Phobos
30 July 2008
Mars Express closed in on the intriguing martian moon Phobos at 6:49 CEST on 23 July, flying past at 3 km/s, only 93 km from the moon. The ESA spacecraft’s fly-bys of the moon have returned its most detailed full-disc images ever, also in 3-D, using the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM5H48N9JF_index_0.html
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That is a quite an orbit that mars express is taking to get the pictures. It's remarkable how they can work out the mathematics and flight strategy to accomplish this.
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'Mars Webcam' now online
22 August 2008
The Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) is mounted on Mars Express, ESA's deep-space probe now orbiting the Red Planet. It originally provided simple, low-tech images of Beagle lander separation, and is now back in action as the 'Mars Webcam'. It's not a scientific instrument, but it does provide fantastic views of Mars - including crescent views of the planet not obtainable from Earth.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/VMC/
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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
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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
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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
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Phobos-Grunt just keeps on looking more and more compelling. Hopefully Russia carries forward with it.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Phobos flyby images
15 March 2010
Images from the recent flyby of Phobos, on 7 March 2010, are released today. The images show Mars rocky moon in exquisite detail, with a resolution of just 4.4 metres per pixel. They show the proposed landing sites for the forthcoming Phobos-Grunt mission.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMK17CKP6G_0.html
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Volcanic ash in Meridiani Planum
12 May 2010
Deposits of volcanic ash colour this view of the Meridiani Planum, as seen by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. They also give clues to the prevailing wind direction in this region of Mars.
http://www.esa.int/export/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMOSA19Y8G_0.html
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http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002517/
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMOR15XT9G_FeatureWeek_1.html
An Astronaut's-Eye View of Mars
Jun. 2, 2010 | 08:22 PDT | 15:22 UTC
In a spectacular video released to the Web on the seventh launch anniversary of Mars Express, the "Mars Webcam" has captured an astronaut's eye view of one complete orbit around the Red Planet. Volcanoes, canyons, polar caps, and one of Mars' moons march through the view as the spacecraft sweeps its elliptical path in space around Mars.
...
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Wet era on early Mars was global
25 June 2010
Conditions favourable to life may once have existed all over Mars. Detailed studies of minerals found inside craters show that liquid water was widespread, not only in the southern highlands, but also beneath the northern plains.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMU70MZLAG_index_0.html
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Rocky mounds and a plateau on Mars
28 June 2010
When Mars Express set sail for the crater named after Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, it found a windblown plateau and mysterious rocky mounds nearby.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZ1FOZVAG_index_0.html
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Mars's mysterious elongated crater
27 August 2010
Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMDV9BO3DG_0.html
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Melas Chasma on Mars: as low as one can go
8 October 2010
There are few places on Mars lower than this. The floor of Melas Chasma sinks nine kilometres below the surrounding plains. New images from the German Aerospace Centre (Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) operated High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA's Mars Express orbiter highlight the complex history of this enormous martian canyon.
http://www.dlr.de/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1/117_read-26969/
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM8PWSOREG_0.html
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Light and dark in the Phoenix Lake
12 November 2010
They say you can't judge a book by its cover but, with planets, first impressions do count. New images show where complex fault lines in Mars Phoenicis Lacus region have resulted in terrain with a distinctly contrasting appearance.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMYQ1DR5GG_0.html
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Wind and water have shaped Schiaparelli on Mars
10 December 2010
The small crater embedded in the northwestern rim of the Schiaparelli impact basin features prominently in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express. All around is evidence for past water and the great martian winds that periodically blow.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMEEYOR9HG_0.html
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Mars Express close flybys of martian moon Phobos
21 January 2011
Mars Express has returned images from the Phobos flyby of 9 January 2011. Mars Express passed Mars’ largest moon at a distance of 100km.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMIPY6SXIG_index_0.html
and
http://www.dlr.de/en/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-1/117_read-28690/
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Mars Express puts craters on a pedestal
4 February 2011
ESA's Mars Express has returned new views of pedestal craters in the Red Planet's eastern Arabia Terra.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMM9RY1LJG_0.html
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The scars of impacts on Mars
4 March 2011
ESA's Mars Express has returned new images of an elongated impact crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Located just south of the Huygens basin, it could have been carved out by a train of projectiles striking the planet at a shallow angle.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMTK5VTLKG_0.html
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Neighbouring volcanoes on Mars
1 April 2011
ESA’s Mars Express has returned images of mist-capped volcanoes located in the northern hemisphere of the red planet. Long after volcanic activity ceased, the area was transformed by meteor impacts that deposited ejected material over the lower flanks of the volcanoes.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM6057UPLG_index_0.html
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Mars Express sees deep fractures on Mars
6 May 2011
Newly released images from ESA’s Mars Express show Nili Fossae, a system of deep fractures around the giant Isidis impact basin. Some of these incisions into the martian crust are up to 500 m deep and probably formed at the same time as the basin.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMT4TZ57NG_index_0.html
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Springtime at Mars’ south pole
7 June 2011
ESA’s Mars Express celebrates eight years in space with a new view of ice in the southern polar region of Mars. The poles are closely linked to the planet’s climate and constantly change with the seasons. Their study is an important scientific objective of the mission.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZBQJ4LOG_index_1.html
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Phobos slips past Jupiter
17 June 2011
Earlier this month, ESA’s Mars Express performed a special manoeuvre to observe an unusual alignment of Jupiter and the martian moon Phobos. The impressive images have now been processed into a movie of this rare event.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJ53E1XOG_index_0.html
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Mars’ northern polar regions in transition
5 August 2011
A newly released image from ESA’s Mars Express shows the north pole of Mars during the red planet’s summer solstice. All the carbon dioxide ice has gone, leaving just a bright cap of water ice.
This image was captured by the orbiter’s High-Resolution Stereo Camera on 17 May 2010 and shows part of the northern polar region of Mars during the summer solstice. The solstice is the longest day and the beginning of the summer for the planet’s northern hemisphere.
The ice shield is covered by frozen water and carbon dioxide ice in winter and spring but by this point in the martian year all of the carbon dioxide ice has warmed and evaporated into the planet’s atmosphere.
Only water ice is left behind, which shows up as bright white areas in this picture. From these layers, large bursts of water vapour are occasionally released into the atmosphere.
The polar ice follows the seasons. In winter, part of the atmosphere recondenses as frost and snow on the northern cap. These seasonal deposits can extend as far south as 45°N latitude and be up to a metre thick.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMA4VITPQG_index_0.html
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Rare martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express
2 September 2011
ESA’s Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars’ past, wetter climate.
The delta is in the Eberswalde crater, in the southern highlands of Mars. The 65 km-diameter crater is visible as a semi-circle on the right of the image and was formed more than 3.7 billion years ago when an asteroid hit the planet.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMM71VTTRG_index_0.html
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Mars Express observes clusters of recent craters in Ares Vallis
7 October 2011
Newly released images taken by ESA’s Mars Express show an unusual accumulation of young craters in the large outflow channel called Ares Vallis. Older craters have been reduced to ghostly outlines by the scouring effects of ancient water.
In the distant past, probably over 3.8 billion years ago, large volumes of water must have rushed through the Ares Vallis with considerable force. Mars Express imaged the preserved aftermath of this scene on 11 May 2011.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMGJB9U7TG_index_0.html
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European orbiter discovers water supersaturation in the Martian atmosphere
6 Oct 2011
New analysis of data sent back by the SPICAM spectrometer on board the Mars Express spacecraft has revealed for the first time that the planet's atmosphere is supersaturated with water vapour. This surprising discovery has major implications for understanding the Martian water cycle and the historical evolution of the atmosphere.
http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2011/Oct/european-orbiter-discovers-water-supersaturation-in-the-martian-atmosphere
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Some disturbing reports about Mars Express.
It seems that it has been shut down due to software problems.
I ask you for details, please.
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http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=49549
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http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=49549
Mars Express observations temporarily suspended
31 Oct 2011
Anomalies in the operation of the solid-state mass memory system on board Mars Express have caused science observations to be temporarily halted. A technical work-around is being investigated that will enable the resumption of a number of observations and should evolve into a long-term solution.
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Battered Tharsis Tholus volcano on Mars
8 November 2011
The latest image released from Mars Express reveals a large extinct volcano that has been battered and deformed over the aeons.
By Earthly standards, Tharsis Tholus is a giant, towering 8 km above the surrounding terrain, with a base stretching over 155 x 125 km. Yet on Mars, it is just an average-sized volcano. What marks it out as unusual is its battered condition.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMIU8TWLUG_index_0.html
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Mars Express steadily returns to routine operation
24 November 2011
Mission controllers are making excellent progress in returning Mars Express to routine service. Some science activities have already resumed after being temporarily suspended last month following a series of faults related to the onboard data storage system.
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Operations/SEMYN9ZW5VG_0.html
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Mountains and buried ice on Mars
2 December 2011
New images from Mars Express show the Phlegra Montes mountain range, in a region where radar probing indicates large volumes of water ice are hiding below. This could be a source of water for future astronauts.
Phlegra Montes is a range of gently curving mountains and ridges on Mars. It extends from the northeastern portion of the Elysium volcanic province to the northern lowlands, spanning latitudes from roughly 30°N to 50°N.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMUGI2XFVG_index_0.html
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MARSIS completes measurement campaign over Martian North Pole
14 Dec 2011
The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument on board Mars Express has recently completed a subsurface sounding campaign over the planet's North Pole. The campaign was interrupted by the suspension of science observations several times between August and October due to safe modes and to anomalies in the operation of the spacecraft's Solid-State Mass Memory (SSMM) system. As MARSIS best observes in the dark, which for the North Pole only occurs every few years, it was among the first instruments to resume observations once a partial work-around for the problems had been implemented.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=49771
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Mars Express picture gallery
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10571/
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Mars Express: 'Wrinkle ridges' and grabens in Tempe Terra
06 January 2012
Tempe Terra is located at the northeastern edge of the Tharsis volcanic region and forms the transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands. This area is characterised by a large variety of tectonic structures and is one of the most geologically diverse on Mars.
http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10231/336_read-2417/year-2012/
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Mars Express reveals wind-blown deposits on Mars
3 February 2012
New images from ESA’s Mars Express show the Syrtis Major region on Mars. Once thought to be a sea of water, the region is now known to be a volcanic province dating back billions of years.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM1NHTXXXG_index_0.html
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ESA's Mars Express radar gives strong evidence for former Mars ocean
6 February 2012
ESA's Mars Express has returned strong evidence for an ocean once covering part of Mars. Using radar, it has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMVINVX7YG_index_0.html
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Return to full science operations
15 Feb 2012
Following a permanent anomaly affecting the onboard solid-state mass memory system on Mars Express, efforts to implement a work-around are almost complete. Full science operations have been resumed and the potential mission lifetime remains unaltered.
Since the suspension of Mars Express science operations, the mission control team has been hard at work devising, testing and implementing a new method of commanding the spacecraft in order to mitigate the effects of a failure in the onboard data storage system.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=50026
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A glow in the Martian night throws light on atmospheric circulation
23 Mar 2012
A faint, infrared glow above the winter poles of Mars is giving new insights into seasonal changes in the planet's atmospheric circulation. The tell-tale night emission was first detected in 2004 in observations made by the OMEGA imaging spectrometer on ESA's Mars Express orbiter.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=50198
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The pit-chains of Mars – a possible place for life?
5 April 2012
The latest images released from ESA’s Mars Express reveal a series of ‘pit-chains’ on the flanks of one of the largest volcanoes in the Solar System. Depending on their origin, they might be tempting targets in the search for microbial life on the Red Planet.
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First Mars Express gravity results plot volcanic history
26 April 2012
Five years of Mars Express gravity mapping data are providing unique insights into what lies beneath the Red Planet’s largest volcanoes. The results show that the lava grew denser over time and that the thickness of the planet's rigid outer layers varies across the Tharsis region.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM6HJNW91H_index_0.html
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Signs of ancient flowing water on Mars
4 May 2012
ESA’s Mars Express has returned images of a region on the Red Planet that appears to have been sculpted in part by flowing liquid. This again adds to the growing evidence that Mars had large volumes of water on its surface in the distant past.
On 21 June last year, Mars Express pointed its high-resolution stereo camera at the western part of Acidalia Planitia, a gigantic basin in the planet’s northern lowlands, at the interface with Tempe Terra, an older, higher terrain.
Acidalia Planitia is a region so vast that it can be seen from Earth by amateur astronomers.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM2RJQWJ1H_index_0.html
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http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2012/05/21/return-of-the-mars-webcam/
The smallest instrument on Mars Express - VMC (Visual Monitoring Camera), the Mars Webcam - has finally returned to service following the major anomaly that struck Mars Express at the end of summer 2011.
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Mars crater shows evidence for climate evolution
7 June 2012
ESA’s Mars Express has provided images of a remarkable crater on Mars that may show evidence that the planet underwent significant periodic fluctuations in its climate due to changes in its rotation axis.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMD285XX2H_index_0.html
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Craters expose action of groundwater beneath Martian highlands
27 Jun 2012
A new study of the ancient, cratered highlands of Mars has detected numerous exposures of minerals that were altered by underground water during the planet's early history. The data indicate that subsurface water persisted for prolonged periods of time during the first billion years of the planet's existence.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=50508
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMKT91VW3H_index_0.html
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Melas Dorsa reveals a complex geological history on Mars
5 July 2012
ESA’s Mars Express has imaged an area to the south of the famed Valles Marineris canyon on the Red Planet, showing a wide range of tectonic and impact features.
On 17 April, the orbiter pointed its high-resolution stereo camera at the Melas Dorsa region of Mars. This area sits in the volcanic highlands of Mars between Sinai and Thaumasia Plana, 250 km south of Melas Chasma. Melas Chasma itself is part of the Valles Marineris rift system.
The image captures wrinkle ridges, some unusual intersecting faults and an elliptical crater surrounded by ejecta in the shape of a butterfly and with a strange ‘fluid-like’ appearance.
Elliptical craters like this 16 km-wide example are formed when asteroids or comets strike the surface of the planet at a shallow angle.
Scientists have suggested that a fluidised ejecta pattern indicates the presence of subsurface ice which melted during the impact. Subsequent impacts have created a number of smaller craters in the ejecta blanket.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM26D2VW3H_index_0.html
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Planetary missions probe giant eruptions in the Sun's corona
24 Jul 2012
Scientists have probed the corona of the Sun by studying the disturbances that it causes to radio transmission from three of ESA's planetary missions: Mars Express, Venus Express and Rosetta. The measurements were performed on several occasions, when each of the spacecraft was located behind the Sun as viewed from Earth. In particular, five coronal mass ejections were detected with Mars Express in 2004. Analysis of these data has revealed the morphology of these colossal solar eruptions in great detail, complementing the view that can be achieved via direct imaging of the Sun's corona.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=50627
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ESA's Mars Express supports dramatic landing on Mars
25 July 2012
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJBLPXV4H_index_0.html
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The fractured features of Ladon basin
2 August 2012
ESA’s Mars Express has observed the southern part of a partially buried approx. 440-km wide crater, informally named Ladon basin. The images, near to where Ladon Valles enters this large impact region reveal a variety of features, most notably the double interconnected impact craters Sigli and Shambe, the basins of which are criss-crossed by extensive fracturing.
This region, imaged on 27 April by the high-resolution stereo camera on Mars Express is of great interest to scientists since it shows significant signs of ancient lakes and rivers.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM5O1TX55H_index_0.html
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Mars Express marks the spot for Curiosity landing
3 August 2012
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMEV8TX55H_index_0.html
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Hadley Crater provides deep insight into martian geology
6 September 2012
Recently engaged in providing support to the successful landing of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory “Curiosity”, ESA’s Mars Express has now returned to its primary mission of studying the diverse geology and atmosphere of the Red Planet from orbit.
Earlier this year, the spacecraft observed the 120 km wide Hadley Crater, providing a tantalising insight into the martian crust. The images show multiple subsequent impacts within the main crater wall, reaching depths of up to 2600 m below the surrounding surface.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM8BQ7YJ6H_index_0.html
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Ice-coated beauty in Mars’ Silver Island
4 October 2012
On 8 June, the high-resolution stereo camera on Mars Express captured a region within the 1800 km-wide and 5 km-deep Argyre basin, which was created by a gigantic impact in the planet’s early history.
After Hellas, the Argyre impact basin is the second largest on the Red Planet.
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEM8GXERI7H_index_0.html
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The Solar System’s grandest canyon
22 October 2012
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMAEO4S18H_index_0.html
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Nereidum Montes helps unlock Mars’ glacial past
High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) nadir and colour channel data taken during revolution 10736 on 6 June 2012 by ESA’s Mars Express have been combined to form a natural-colour view of Nereidum Montes. Centred at around 40°S and 310°E, the image has a ground resolution of about 23 m per pixel. It shows a portion of the extensive region, with concentric crater fill in many of the craters towards the east (lower part of the image). Undulations in crater floors are commonly seen in mid-latitude regions on Mars and are believed to be a result of glacial movement.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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Nereidum Montes perspective view
This computer-generated perspective view was created using data obtained from the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express. Centred at around 40°S and 310°E, the image has a ground resolution of about 23 m per pixel. This perspective view highlights many of the rippled sand dunes which form on the leeward (wind-sheltered) sides of mounds and canyons, as well as the lobate and fan-shaped surface around the impact crater which dominates the lower portion of the image. These features may indicate the previous extent of glaciation in the region, before a drier period in the planet’s history created the smooth plains. Taken during revolution 10736 on 6 June 2012.
Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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Fostering Curiosity: Mars Express relays rocky images
Rocknest3 relayed by Mars Express
26 November 2012
For the first time, ESA’s Mars orbiter has relayed scientific data from NASA’s Curiosity rover on the Red Planet’s surface. The data included detailed images of ‘Rocknest3’ and were received by ESA’s deep-space antenna in Australia.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZ7ZB1W9H_index_0.html
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Charitum Montes: a cratered winter wonderland
6 December 2012
The high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express imaged the Charitum Montes region of the Red Planet on 18 June, near to Gale crater and the Argyre basin featured in our October and November image releases.
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMH7W2ABAH_index_0.html
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Explosive crater twins on Mars
11 April 2013
Dramatic underground explosions, perhaps involving ice, are responsible for the pits inside these two large martian impact craters, imaged by ESA’s Mars Express on 4 January.
The ‘twin’ craters are in the Thaumasia Planum region, a large plateau that lies immediately to the south of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the Solar System.
The northernmost (right) large crater in this scene was officially given the name Arima in early 2012, but the southernmost (left) crater remains unnamed. Both are just over 50 km wide and display intricate interior features.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Explosive_crater_twins_on_Mars
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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http://www.esa.int/For_Media/Press_Releases/ESA_activities_in_2013_of_interest_to_media_-_Update_25_April_2013
Skimming the surface of Phobos
Mars Express will perform the closest ever fly-by of martian moon Phobos, passing only 58 km from the moon's centre (or within around 47 km of the moon's surface). Flying so close to the surface will in itself be a navigation feat, and will provide an unprecedented determination of the moon's mass distribution.
Expected date: Flyby will take place on 29 December, with results available in early 2014
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Ten years at Mars: new global views plot the Red Planet’s history
03 Jun 2013
New global maps of Mars released on the 10th anniversary of the launch of ESA's Mars Express trace the history of water and volcanic activity on the Red Planet, and identify sites of special interest for the next generation of Mars explorers.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=51856
DLR Web special: The High Resolution Stereo Camera has been on board Mars Express for 10 years
http://www.mex10.dlr.de/index-en.html
Mars Express mission highlights
http://spaceinimages.esa.int/Images/2013/05/Mars_Express_mission_highlights
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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and a 10 year highlight video:
Mars Express ten year highlights
Published on Jun 3, 2013
ESA
The journey of Mars Express, from drawing board through launch, to its key science highlights during ten years of operations. With its suite of seven instruments, Mars Express has studied the subsurface of the Red Planet to the upper atmosphere and beyond to the two tiny moons Phobos and Deimos, providing an in depth analysis of the planet's history and returning stunning 3D images
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyWC_zPTLsI
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Mars Express Full Orbit Video 2.0
Published on Jun 4, 2013
In celebration of the 10th anniversary of Mars Express: a new and enhanced Full Orbit Video genarted by multiple images acquired by the VMC camera - the Mars Webcam - on board ESA's Mars Express
This version is a special 'MEX birthday preview'. We'll post a somewhat extended version late next week, to coincide with the next expected VMC image set arriving from Mars (for news, follow the VMC blog http://blogs.esa.int/vmc)
Thanks to the Mars Express Science & operations teams for generating a fabulous, unique-in-our-Solar-System view of the Red planet. And happy Birthday, Mars Express!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Os5aQ25ECg
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The floodwaters of Mars
6 June 2013
Dramatic flood events carved this impressive channel system on Mars covering 1.55 million square kilometres, shown here in a stunning new mosaic from ESA’s Mars Express.
The mosaic, which features the spectacular Kasei Valles, comprises 67 images taken with the spacecraft’s high-resolution stereo camera and is released during the week of the 10th anniversary of the spacecraft’s launch to the Red Planet.
Kasei Valles is one of the largest outflow channel systems on Mars – from source to sink, it extends some 3000 km and descends by 3 km in altitude. The scene covered in the mosaic spans 987 km north–south (19–36°N) and 1550 km east–west (280–310°E).
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/The_floodwaters_of_Mars
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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ESA science missions continue in overtime
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=51944
On 19 June, the SPC approved new extensions – until 31 December 2016 - for Cassini-Huygens, Cluster, Hinode, Hubble Space Telescope, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, SOHO and XMM-Newton. Consistent with previous cycles, these are subject to mid-term confirmation, in late 2014.
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At the foot of the Red Planet’s giant volcano
4 July 2013
Hundreds of individual lava flows are seen frozen in time on the flanks of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System.
The images, taken on 21 January 2013 by ESA’s Mars Express, focus on the southeast segment of the giant volcano, which towers some 22 km above the surrounding plains. This is more than double the height of Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on Earth at 10 km, when measured from its oceanic base to summit.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/At_the_foot_of_the_Red_Planet_s_giant_volcano
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1 August 2013
Craters once brim-full with sediments and water have long since drained dry, but traces of their former lives as muddy lakes cling on in the martian desert.
The images were taken on 15 January by ESA’s Mars Express, and feature a region just a few degrees south of the equator within the ancient southern highlands of Mars. The unnamed region lies immediately to the north of an ancient riverbed known as Tagus Valles and east of Tinto Valles and Palos crater that were presented in an earlier release.
The 34 km-wide crater in the top left of the main images perhaps draws most attention with its chaotic interior. Here, broad flat-topped blocks called mesas can be found alongside smaller parallel wind-blown features known as yardangs.
Both mesas and yardangs were carved from sediments that originally filled the crater, deposited there during a flood event that covered the entire scene. Over time, the weakest sediments were eroded away, leaving the haphazard pattern of stronger blocks behind.
Further evidence of this crater’s watery past can be seen in the top right of the crater in the shape of a small, winding river channel.
Clues also hang onto the ghostly outline of an ancient crater some 20 km to the east (below in the main images). While the crater has all but been erased from the geological record, a long meandering channel clearly remains, and flows towards the crater in the centre of the scene.
This central complex of craters is seen close up in the perspective view below, showing in more detail another channel-like feature, along with a highly deformed crater. Perhaps the rim of this eroded crater was breached as sediments flooded the larger crater.
The crater is also seen from a different angle and in the background of the second perspective view below. In the foreground is one of the deepest craters in the scene, as indicated by the topography map.
Numerous landslides have occurred within this crater, perhaps facilitated by the presence of water weakening the crater walls. Grooves etched into the crater’s inner walls mark the paths of tumbling rocks, while larger piles of material have slumped en-masse to litter the crater floor.
A group of interconnected craters with flat floors smoothed over by sediments lie in the lower right part of the main image. One small crater with a prominent debris deposit – an ejecta blanket – lies within the crater.
Ejecta blankets are composed of material excavated from inside the crater during its formation. This particular crater exhibits a ‘rampart’ ejecta blanket – one with petal-like lobes around its edges. Liquid water bound up in the ejected material allowed it to flow along the surface, giving it a fluid appearance.
But it’s not just water that has played a role in this region; volcanic eruptions have also had their say. A dark layer of fine-grained ash covers the top left corner of the main image that may have been deposited from the Elysium volcanic province to the northeast. Over time, the ash was redistributed by wind, and buried deposits exposed in localised areas by erosion.
This region is one of many that exposes evidence of the Red Planet’s active past, and shows that the marks of water are engraved in even the most unlikely ancient crater-strewn fields.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Water_in_a_martian_desert
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A radiating beauty on Mars
5 September 2013
Exceptional structures deposited and shaped by water and winds adorn these interlocking craters and sculpt radiating patterns in the sands of Mars.
This mosaic, which focuses on Becquerel crater in Arabia Terra, is composed of four images taken by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express. Arabia Terra is in the transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands of Mars.
Becquerel crater is named for the 19th-century French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel (1852–1908), winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1903 along with Marie and Pierre Curie for the discovery of radioactivity.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/A_radiating_beauty_on_Mars
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
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A seasonal ozone layer over the Martian south pole
29 September 2013
For the past decade, ESA's Mars Express orbiter has been observing atmospheric structure on the Red Planet. Among its discoveries is the presence of three separate ozone layers, each with its own characteristics. A new comparison of spacecraft data with computer models explains how global atmospheric circulation creates a layer of ozone above the planet's southern winter pole.
http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/52881-a-seasonal-ozone-layer-over-the-martian-south-pole/
Image credit: ESA/ATG medialab
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This mosaic of Hebes Chasma is composed of eight single images taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express, corresponding to orbits 360 (2 May 2004), 2149 (16 September 2005), 3217 (12 July 2006), 5142 (3 January 2008), 5160 (8 January 2008), 5178 (13 January 2008), 6241 (11 November 2008), and 7237 (24 August 2009). The image centre lies at about 1°S / 284°E.
Hebes Chasma is an enclosed, almost 8 km-deep trough stretching 315 km in an east–west direction and 125 km from north to south at its widest point. It sits about 300 km north of the vast Valles Marineris canyon. A flat-topped mesa is located in the centre of Hebes Chasma, which was likely shaped by the action of wind and water.
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Read more:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Martian_scars
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Mars Express heading towards daring flyby of Phobos
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2013/12/23/mars-express-heading-towards-daring-flyby-of-phobos/
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.
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Phobos: Like a Phoenix from the ashes
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2013/12/31/phobos-like-a-phoenix-from-the-ashes/
Alien audio: Listen to Mars Express skim by Phobos
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2013/12/31/alien-audio-listen-to-mars-express-skim-by-phobos/
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Very interesting set of posts (ongoing) about how Mars Express' team plans to protect the spacecraft from this October's flyby of Comet C/2013 A1 "Siding Spring" :
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/02/07/mars-express-team-readies-for-siding-springs/
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/02/14/why-orienting-our-spacecraft-is-the-heart-of-the-challenge/
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/02/21/space-is-really-really-big-except-sometimes-it-isnt/
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Lava floods the ancient plains of Mars
6 March 2014
Two distinct volcanic eruptions have flooded this area of Daedalia Planum with lava, flowing around an elevated fragment of ancient terrain.
The images were acquired by ESA’s Mars Express on 28 November 2013 towards the eastern boundary of the gigantic Tharsis Montes volcanic region, where the largest volcanoes on Mars are found.
The lava flows seen in this image come from Arsia Mons, the southernmost volcano in the Tharsis complex, which lies around 1000 km to the northwest of the region featured here.
This volcanic region is thought to have been active until tens of millions of years ago, relatively recent on the planet’s geological timescale that spans 4.6 billion years.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Lava_floods_the_ancient_plains_of_Mars
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
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http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/07/27/earth-seen-from-mars-we-are-here/
Earth seen from Mars: We are here
Image credit: ESA/Mars Express/VMC
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Access the full VMC image archive
http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/12/17/access-the-full-vmc-image-archive/
ESA Mars Express HRSC images now available under a Creative Commons licence
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/12/18/esa-mars-express-hrsc-images-now-available-under-a-creative-commons-licence/
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Flight over Atlantis Chaos
https://youtu.be/O_b39AHRMlw
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Mars south pole and beyond
This sweeping view by ESA’s Mars Express extends from the planet’s south polar ice cap and across its cratered highlands to the Hellas Basin (top left) and beyond.
The image was acquired by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 25 February 2015. It is a ‘broom calibration’ image, acquired while the spacecraft performed a manoeuvre such that its camera pans over the surface far above the planet, at about 9 900 km.
The ground resolution is about 1 km per pixel at the closest point to the surface. The image was created using data from the nadir channel, the field of view of which is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, and the colour channels of HRSC. These channels have been co-registered using ‘markers’ on the surface, such as a mountain or dark spot, to achieve a common geometry. That is, for each colour channel, these markers are overlain to produce the colour image. This process is not needed for ‘normal’ nadir observations because the geometry is known here, unlike in this broom observation.
Related article:
- Sweeping over the south pole of Mars
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Sweeping_over_the_south_pole_of_Mars
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/09/Mars_south_pole_and_beyond
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http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/07/27/earth-seen-from-mars-we-are-here/
Earth seen from Mars: We are here
Image credit: ESA/Mars Express/VMC
I can see my house.
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Mars’ night-time aurora
Using 10 years of data from Mars Express, scientists have for the first time combined remote sensing observations of localised ultraviolet aurora with in situ measurements of electrons hitting the atmosphere, finding these rare light emissions only occur under special magnetic field conditions.
Centre: Locations of the 19 auroral detections (white circles) by SPICAM on the Mars nightside in the southern hemisphere, over locations already known to be associated with residual crustal magnetism. The data is superimposed on the magnetic field line structure (from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor) where red indicates closed magnetic field lines, grading through yellow, green and blue to open field lines in purple. The auroral emissions are very short-lived, they are not seen to repeat in the same locations, and only occur near the boundary between open and closed magnetic field lines (also visualised top right).
Bottom right: SPICAM limb observations enabled the altitude of some of the auroral events to be determined as 137+/- 27 km.
Full story: Shining a light on the aurora of Mars (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Shining_a_light_on_the_aurora_of_Mars)
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/11/Mars_night-time_aurora
Image credit: Spacecraft: ESA/ATG medialab; data: J-C. Gérard & L. Soret (2015)
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The close-approach Phobos imaging sequence wasn't saved due to a recurrent error with the mass memory that happened during the latest Phobos flyby. Other science data (radar, particle and plasma) was saved and transmitted back.
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2016/01/28/update-on-phobos-flyby-science-results/
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Hellas Basin rim
A portion of the vast Hellas Basin, incorporating the transition of the fractured, terraced rim (top) into the smoother frost-covered basin floor (bottom).
The region was imaged by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 6 December 2015 during orbit 15127. The image is centred on 45ºS/48ºE and the ground resolution is about 52 m per pixel.
Related article: Frosty martian valleys (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Frosty_martian_valleys)
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2016/03/Hellas_Basin_rim
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
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Access the full VMC image archive
http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/12/17/access-the-full-vmc-image-archive/
ESA Mars Express HRSC images now available under a Creative Commons licence
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/12/18/esa-mars-express-hrsc-images-now-available-under-a-creative-commons-licence/
Mars Webcam goes pro
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Webcam_goes_pro
VMC The Mars Webcam (Flickr)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/
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http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2016/06/15/mars-express-chats-with-curiosity-practice-makes-perfect/
.... 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.
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Access the full VMC image archive
http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2014/12/17/access-the-full-vmc-image-archive/
ESA Mars Express HRSC images now available under a Creative Commons licence
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2014/12/18/esa-mars-express-hrsc-images-now-available-under-a-creative-commons-licence/
Mars Webcam goes pro
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Webcam_goes_pro
VMC The Mars Webcam (Flickr)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/
VMC grows up
http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/2016/08/05/vmc-grows-up/
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New evidence for a warmer and wetter early mars
06 December 2016
A recent study from ESA's Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provides new evidence for a warm young Mars that hosted water across a geologically long timescale, rather than in short episodic bursts – something that has important consequences for habitability and the possibility of past life on the planet.
http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/58613-new-evidence-for-a-warmer-and-wetter-early-mars/
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Gorgeous images of the Northern polar cap:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Swirling_spirals_at_the_north_pole_of_Mars
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Still going strong after 14 years:
#OTD 25 December 2003, Mars Express enters martian orbit, Europe’s successful 1st attempt to send a space probe into orbit around another planet... See esa.int/Our_Activities…
https://twitter.com/esa_history/status/945217476115271680
And #MarsExpress is staying busy this Christmas, too! Last night #MEX conducted overflight & test communication link w/ @MarsCuriosity #RedPlanet Link was live for 6 mins starting 22:35CET. Recorded signal data was downloaded at 02:33CET this AM
https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/945251285284130816 (https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/945251285284130816)
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Between the age of the spacecraft and the success Venus Express had at Venus, I wonder if aerobraking would ever be attempted with Mars Express. I assume, with TGO in orbit now, it's unnecessary since that orbiter is optimized to handle aerobraking. How much longer can 'Express last as is in light of it's arrival anniversary?
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Crater Neukum named after Mars Express founder
18 January 2018
A fascinating martian crater has been chosen to honour the German physicist and planetary scientist, Gerhard Neukum, one of the founders of ESA’s Mars Express mission.
The International Astronomical Union named the 102 km-wide crater in the Noachis Terra region “Neukum” in September last year after the camera’s leader, who died in 2014. Professor Neukum inspired and led the development of the high-resolution stereo camera on Mars Express, which helped to establish the regional geology and topography of Mars.
Observations by the camera in December 2005 and May 2007 were used to create the image mosaic of Neukum Crater presented here.
Neukum Crater sits in the Noachis Terra region in the densely cratered southern highlands of Mars, some 800 km to the west of the planet’s largest impact basin, Hellas. Noachis Terra is one of the oldest known regions on the Red Planet, dating back at least 3.9 billion years – the earliest martian era, the Noachian epoch, is named after it.
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Crater_Neukum_named_after_Mars_Express_founder
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
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MARS IMPACT CRATER OR SUPERVOLCANO?
These images from ESA’s Mars Express show a crater named Ismenia Patera on the Red Planet. Its origin remains uncertain: did a meteorite smash into the surface or could it be the remnants of a supervolcano?
http://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_impact_crater_or_supervolcano
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http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Express_v2.0 (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Express_v2.0)
Mars Express v2.0
11 April 2018
Every so often, your smartphone or tablet receives new software to improve its functionality and extend its life. Now, ESA’s Mars Express is getting a fresh install, delivered across over 150 million km of space.
With nearly 15 years in orbit, Mars Express – one of the most successful interplanetary missions ever – is on track to keep gathering critical science data for many more years thanks to a fresh software installation developed by the mission teams at ESA.
...
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All is well after the update reboot, full functionality expected to be back in a few days. Live replay of events can be found in @ESA_Operations twitter history, from this tweet: https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/985873946401746945 to this one: https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/985952195693559808
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https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/From_horizon_to_horizon_Celebrating_15_years_of_Mars_Express
From horizon to horizon: Celebrating 15 years of Mars Express
The past 15 years of observations from Mars Express have significantly contributed to the newly emerging picture of Mars as a once-habitable planet, with warmer and wetter epochs that may have once acted as oases for ancient martian life. These findings have paved the way for missions dedicated to hunting for signs of life on the planet, such as ESA and Roscosmos’s two-mission ExoMars programme.
Meanwhile, on board Mars Express, an innovative software patch has recently rejuvenated the spacecraft.
After the successful activation of new software loaded on the spacecraft on 16 April, followed by a series of in-flight tests, Mars Express resumed science operations on 27 April. The new software, developed by ESA, was needed to compensate for the potential old-age run-down of the satellite's six gyroscopes, which measure how much Mars Express rotates about any of its three axes. Since 16 May, the spacecraft has been operating with its gyros mostly switched off. Fine-tuning of the new software will take place over the coming months.
This implementation is a major operational milestone for the mission, as it gives Mars Express an extended lifeline, possibly through the mid-2020s.
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A unique view of Mars Express
In this unique image, one satellite orbiting Mars records the presence of another. The narrow blur against a black backdrop is in fact ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor. It is the first-ever successful image of any spacecraft orbiting Mars taken by another spacecraft in a Martian orbit.
Mars Express, still in operation, represents ESA’s first visit to another planet in the Solar System. Launched in 2003 with seven instruments, a lander, a network of ground and data processing stations and a launcher, Mars Express marked the beginning of a new era for Europe’s planetary exploration.
The Mars Global Surveyor was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched in 1996. It mapped the entire Martian planet from the ionosphere down through the atmosphere to its red, rocky surface, but it also caught this glimpse of another spacecraft dedicated to revealing the secrets of one of Earth’s nearest neighbours.
From a distance of 250-370 km, the Mars Global Surveyor captured this remarkable shot of Mars Express, but unfortunately ESA’s satellite could not return the favour.
On 2 November 2016 the NASA spacecraft failed to respond to messages and commands. Three days later a faint signal was detected, indicating the spacecraft had gone into safe mode and was awaiting further instruction. Attempts to re-contact the Mars Global Surveyor and resolve the problem failed, and the mission ended officially in January 2007.
Following this loss of contact, the Mars Express team was requested by NASA to perform actions in the hope of visually identifying the American spacecraft. Two attempts were made to find it, but both proved unsuccessful.
Credits: Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) team, NASA/JPL/MSSS
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MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE BEHAVES AS ONE
18 July 2018
New research using a decade of data from ESA’s Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting those seen higher up.
Understanding the martian atmosphere is a key topic in planetary science, from its current status to its past history. Mars’ atmosphere continuously leaks out to space, and is a crucial factor in the planet’s past, present, and future habitability – or lack of it. The planet has lost the majority of its once much denser and wetter atmosphere, causing it to evolve into the dry, arid world we see today.
However, the tenuous atmosphere Mars has retained remains complex, and scientists are working to understand if and how the processes within it are connected over space and time.
A new study based on 10 years of data from the radar instrument on Mars Express now offers clear evidence of a sought-after link between the upper and lower atmospheres of the planet. While best known for probing the interior of Mars via radar sounding, the instrument has also gathered observations of the martian ionosphere since it began operating in 2005.
http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/60510-martian-atmosphere-behaves-as-one/
"Spatial, seasonal and solar cycle variations of the Martian total electron content (TEC): Is the TEC a good tracer for atmospheric cycles?" by Sánchez-Cano et al. is published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, doi: 10.1029/2018JE005626
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018JE005626
The study is based on data collected by the Mars Express MARSIS instrument, the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding.
Image credit: ESA/Mars Express/MARSIS/B. Sánchez-Cano et al 2018
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If this interpretation holds, this discovery by MARSIS -apart from being huge by itself- will shift exobiology and direct sampling strategies for decades to come, although the ice in the area is 1.5 km thick and the 1-2 m-deep brine is at -68ºC.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/07/24/science.aar7268
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/25/huge-underground-lake-discovered-on-mars-say-astronomers
Huge underground lake raises prospects of life on Mars, say astronomers
Scientists have spotted a 12 mile-wide stretch of water underneath a slab of ice at the Martian south pole
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Another article on it:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/world/mars-subsurface-water-lake-evidence/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/world/mars-subsurface-water-lake-evidence/index.html)
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If this interpretation holds, this discovery by MARSIS -apart from being huge by itself- will shift exobiology and direct sampling strategies for decades to come, although the ice in the area is 1.5 km thick and the 1-2 m-deep brine is at -68ºC.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/07/24/science.aar7268
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jul/25/huge-underground-lake-discovered-on-mars-say-astronomers
Huge underground lake raises prospects of life on Mars, say astronomers
Scientists have spotted a 12 mile-wide stretch of water underneath a slab of ice at the Martian south pole
I certainly hope not! "Shift strategies", for sure. But "for decades to come" implies we won't have more significant results and more significant ground capabilities for decades...
This reservoir was an expected find. Wait till we get to the unexpected finds...
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Well this might raise the potential of the Icebreaker or some other probe to the South Pole now.
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Mars Express detects water buried under the south pole of Mars
ESA’s Mars Express has used radar signals bounced through underground layers of ice to find evidence of a pond of water buried below the south polar cap.
Twenty-nine dedicated observations were made between 2012 and 2015 in the Planum Australe region at the south pole using the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding instrument, MARSIS. A new mode of operations established in this period enabled a higher quality of data to be retrieved than earlier in the mission.
The 200 km square study area is indicated in the left-hand image and the radar footprints on the surface are indicated in the middle image for multiple orbits. The greyscale background image is a Thermal Emission Imaging System image from NASA’s Mars Odyssey, and highlights the underlying topography: a mostly featureless plain with icy scarps in the lower right (south is up).
The footprints are colour-coded corresponding to the ‘power’ of the radar signal reflected from features below the surface. The large blue area close to the centre corresponds to the main radar-bright area, detected on many overlapping orbits of the spacecraft.
A subsurface radar profile is shown in the right hand panel for one of the Mars orbits. The bright horizontal feature at the top represents the icy surface of Mars in this region. The south polar layered deposits – layers of ice and dust – are seen to a depth of about 1.5 km. Below is a base layer that in some areas is even much brighter than the surface reflections, highlighted in blue, while in other places is rather diffuse. Analysing the details of the reflected signals from the base layer yields properties that correspond to liquid water.
The brightest reflections are centred around 193°E/81°S in the intersecting orbits, outlining a well-defined, 20 km-wide zone.
- Related ESA's article: Mars Express detects liquid water hidden under planet's south pole (https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_detects_liquid_water_hidden_under_planet_s_south_pole)
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/07/Mars_Express_detects_water_buried_under_the_south_pole_of_Mars
Image credit Context map: NASA/Viking; THEMIS background: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University; MARSIS data: ESA/NASA/JPL/ASI/Univ. Rome; R. Orosei et al 2018
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Mars Express detects water buried under the south pole of Mars
WaPo (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/07/25/a-12-mile-wide-body-of-water-lies-beneath-the-ice-cap-of-mars/?utm_term=.09a15a9be4ae), CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/25/world/mars-subsurface-water-lake-evidence/index.html), Time (http://time.com/5347063/mars-lake-water-life/), Newsweek (https://www.newsweek.com/water-mars-huge-lake-detected-below-red-planets-surface-major-milestone-1041265), and US News (https://www.usnews.com/news/news/articles/2018-07-25/water-is-buried-beneath-martian-landscape-study-says) on same topic.
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There is a press conference on this discovery at:
http://www.asitv.it/media/vod/v/4892/video/latest-news-from-marsis-radar
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The actual paper is public access http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2018/07/24/science.aar7268
People have been predicting subsurface water on Mars for over 40 years, and sub-polar water for about30.It is good to discovery at last.
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Mars Express view of Cerberus Fossae
This image, taken on 27 January 2018 during orbit 17813 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express, shows a portion of the Cerberus Fossae system in Elysium Planitia near the martian equator.
The image was created using data from the nadir channel, the field of view which is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, and the colour channels of the HRSC. The ground resolution is approximately 16 m/pixel and the images are centred at about 159°E/10°N.
Related article: Recent tectonics on Mars (https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Recent_tectonics_on_Mars)
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2018/09/Mars_Express_view_of_Cerberus_Fossae
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
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http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_keeps_an_eye_on_curious_cloud
Since 13 September, ESA’s Mars Express has been observing the evolution of an elongated cloud formation hovering in the vicinity of the 20 km-high Arsia Mons volcano, close to the planet’s equator. In spite of its location, this atmospheric feature is not linked to volcanic activity but is rather a water ice cloud driven by the influence of the volcano’s leeward slope on the air flow – something that scientists call an orographic or lee cloud – and a regular phenomenon in this region.
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Elongated cloud on Mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PPK_lN7mOE
images were taken by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) between 13 September 2018 and 24 October 2018
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https://twitter.com/jccwrt/status/1068014638338637824
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MARS EXPRESS MATCHES METHANE SPIKE MEASURED BY CURIOSITY (http://sci.esa.int/mars-express/61265-mars-express-matches-methane-spike-measured-by-curiosity/)
A reanalysis of data collected by ESA's Mars Express during the first 20 months of NASA's Curiosity mission found one case of correlated methane detection, the first time an in-situ measurement has been independently confirmed from orbit.
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Mars Express matches methane spike measured by Curiosity
Data collected by the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer onboard ESA’s Mars Express during the first 20 months of NASA’s Curiosity mission found one case of correlated methane detection, the first time an in-situ measurement has been independently confirmed from orbit. Ten other observations in the Mars Express study period reported no detections at the limit of the spectrometer’s sensitivity; all of these correspond to a period of low measurements reported by Curiosity.
The details of the methane spike are illustrated in this graphic – the Mars Express detection was made one day after the elevated reading recorded by Curiosity, which is exploring Gale Crater, just south of the martian equator. Taken together, the two results can be used to examine the possible source region for the methane.
Two independent analyses were made, by examining a wide region around Gale Crater. The region was divided into grids of about 250 by 250 square kilometres, and in one study, computer simulations were used to predict the probability of methane emission from each square (indicated by the numbers in each square). The simulations took into account the measured data, expected atmospheric circulation patterns, and methane release intensity and duration based on the geological phenomenon of ‘gas seepage’. In the other study, geologists scrutinised the region for features where gas seepage is expected – these are the kind of features that might be associated with methane release.
The geological analysis pointed to one of the regions that the computer simulations predicted would be the most likely region for methane release. The area marked by the black dots is thought to contain shallow ice that could easily trap subsurface methane, and tectonic faults in the grid square between this region and Gale Crater are thought to extend below the surface and break through the ice, causing the episodic release of methane.
More information: Mars Express matches methane spike measured by Curiosity (https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_matches_methane_spike_measured_by_Curiosity)
http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/04/Mars_Express_matches_methane_spike_measured_by_Curiosity
Image credit: ESA/Giuranna et al (2019)
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Mars Express in numbers
Launched in June 2003, ESA’s Mars Express has been studying all aspects of the Red Planet for more than 15 years. Later this year it will celebrate its 20 000th orbit of Mars. This graphic highlights some of the mission’s impressive numbers to date, which will certainly continue to increase over time.
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/05/Mars_Express_in_numbers
Image credit: ESA – S. Poletti
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Wow, any one for sledging?
Mars Express gets festive: A winter wonderland on Mars
20/12/2018
This image shows what appears to be a large patch of fresh, untrodden snow – a dream for any lover of the holiday season. However, it’s a little too distant for a last-minute winter getaway: this feature, known as Korolev crater, is found on Mars, and is shown here in beautiful detail as seen by Mars Express.
ESA’s Mars Express mission launched on 2 June 2003, and reached Mars six months later. The satellite fired its main engine and entered orbit around the Red Planet on 25 December, making this month the 15-year anniversary of the spacecraft’s orbit insertion and the beginning of its science programme.
These images are an excellent celebration of such a milestone. Taken by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), this view of Korolev crater comprises five different ‘strips’ that have been combined to form a single image, with each strip gathered over a different orbit. The crater is also shown in perspective, context, and topographic views, all of which offer a more complete view of the terrain in and around the crater.
Korolev crater is 82 kilometres across and found in the northern lowlands of Mars, just south of a large patch of dune-filled terrain that encircles part of the planet’s northern polar cap (known as Olympia Undae). It is an especially well-preserved example of a martian crater and is filled not by snow but ice, with its centre hosting a mound of water ice some 1.8 kilometres thick all year round.
This ever-icy presence is due to an interesting phenomenon known as a ‘cold trap’, which occurs as the name suggests. The crater’s floor is deep, lying some two kilometres vertically beneath its rim.
The very deepest parts of Korolev crater, those containing ice, act as a natural cold trap: the air moving over the deposit of ice cools down and sinks, creating a layer of cold air that sits directly above the ice itself.
Behaving as a shield, this layer helps the ice remain stable and stops it from heating up and disappearing. Air is a poor conductor of heat, exacerbating this effect and keeping Korolev crater permanently icy.
The crater is named after chief rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev, dubbed the father of Soviet space technology.
Korolev worked on a number of well-known missions including the Sputnik program – the first artificial satellites ever sent into orbit around the Earth, in 1957 and the years following, the Vostok and Vokshod programs of human space exploration (Vostok being the spacecraft that carried the first ever human, Yuri Gagarin, into space in 1961) as well as the first interplanetary missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus. He also worked on a number of rockets that were the precursors to the successful Soyuz launcher – still the workhorses of the Russian space programme, and used for both crewed and robotic flights.
The region of Mars has also been of interest to other missions, including ESA’s ExoMars programme, which aims to establish if life ever existed on Mars.
The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) instrument aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which began operating at Mars on 28 April 2018, also snapped a beautiful view of part of Korolev crater – this was one of the very first images the spacecraft sent back to Earth after arriving at our neighbouring planet.
CaSSIS imaged a 40-kilometre-long chunk of the crater’s northern rim, neatly showcasing its intriguing shape and structure, and its bright icy deposits.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_gets_festive_A_winter_wonderland_on_Mars
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https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1267746124271546369
Happy Birthday #MarsExpress!
17 years ago today Europe's first mission to Mars left Earth. The nominal plan was for the spacecraft to spend one year orbiting the Red Planet, but engineers at #MissionControl managed to keep it flying an extra 16 years ... here's to the next!🥳
https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1267747554973945856
The last time we forgot to wish Mars Express Happy Birthday, the spacecraft didn't speak to the control team for 5 hours!
From then onwards, we never forget.
#FlyingSensitiveSpacecraft🛰️
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https://youtu.be/z3fFOCPgNJk
This movie, based on images taken by ESA’s Mars Express, showcases the 82 km wide Korolev crater on Mars.
Located in the northern lowlands of the Red Planet, south of the large Olympia Undae dune field that partly surrounds Mars’ north polar cap, this well-preserved impact crater is filled with water ice all year round. The crater’s floor lies two kilometers below its rim, enclosing a 1.8 km thick domed deposit that represents a large reservoir of non-polar ice on Mars.
Water ice is permanently stable within Korolev crater because the deepest part of this depression acts as a natural cold trap. The air above the ice cools and is thus heavier compared to the surrounding air: since air is a poor conductor of heat, the water ice mound is effectively shielded from heating and sublimation.
The crater is named after chief rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1907-1966), dubbed the father of Russian space technology. Korolev developed the first Russian intercontinental rocket R7, the precursor of the modern Soyuz rockets that are still operated today. With his rocket and spacecraft design, he was also responsible for the first human-made satellite (Sputnik in 1957) and for the first human spaceflight (Yuri Gagarin in 1961).
This movie was created using an image mosaic made from single orbit observations from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express, which was first published in December 2018. The mosaic combines data from the HRSC nadir and colour channels; the nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. The mosaic image was then combined with topography information from the stereo channels of HRSC to generate a three-dimensional landscape, which was then recorded from different perspectives, as with a movie camera, to render the flight shown in the video.
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MARS EXPRESS HELPS UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF PERSEVERANCE LANDING SITE (https://sci.esa.int/web/mars-express/-/mars-express-helps-uncover-the-secrets-of-perseverance-landing-site)
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will search for signs of past life on Mars and collect samples for a future flight to Earth. NASA and ESA are currently working together on mission concepts to bring these samples to Earth by 2031.
Two studies based on data from another space mission – ESA's Mars Express, orbiting the Red Planet since 2003 – now identify which parts of the rover's landing site are most likely to have preserved ancient signs of life, climate, water, and volcanism. Both studied a part of Mars' surface known as Nili Fossae and, more specifically, a crater within this area named Jezero crater.
Jezero crater contains a delta, clear evidence that water once flowed there in the form of an ancient lake, and holds large quantities of both olivine and carbonate minerals. Carbonates form in the presence of water and are known to trap biosignatures, the signatures of life, whereas olivine is present in magmatic rocks and can be used to explore and precisely date Mars' volcanic past.
Image credit: L. Mandon et al. (2020)
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Return of the extremely elongated cloud on Mars
A mysteriously long, thin cloud has again appeared over the 20-km high Arsia Mons volcano on Mars.
A recurrent feature, the cloud is made up of water ice, but despite appearances it is not a plume linked to volcanic activity. Instead, the curious stream forms as airflow is influenced by the volcano’s ‘leeward’ slope − the side that does not face the wind.
These images of the cloud, which can reach up to 1800-km in length, were taken on 17 and 19 July by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on Mars Express, which has been studying the Red Planet from orbit for the past 16 years.
“We have been investigating this intriguing phenomenon and were expecting to see such a cloud form around now,” explains Jorge Hernandez-Bernal, PhD candidate at the University of the Basque Country (Spain) and lead author of the ongoing study.
“This elongated cloud forms every martian year during this season around the southern solstice, and repeats for 80 days or even more, following a rapid daily cycle. However, we don’t know yet if the clouds are always quite this impressive”.
A martian day, or sol, is slightly longer than an Earth day at 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds long. A year at the Red Planet consists of 668 sols, approximately 687 days, so the seasons last for twice as long.
The southern solstice is the period of the year when the Sun is in the southernmost position in the martian skies, just like 21 December on Earth. In the early mornings during this period, this fleeting cloud grows for approximately three hours, quickly disappearing again just a few hours later.
Most spacecraft in orbit around the Red Planet tend to observe in the afternoon, however Mars Express is in a privileged position to gather and provide crucial information on this unique effect.
“The extent of this huge cloud can't be seen if your camera only has a narrow field of view, or if you're only observing in the afternoon,” says Eleni Ravanis, a Young Graduate Trainee for the Mars Express mission who works specifically for the VMC instrument.
“Luckily for Mars Express, the highly elliptical orbit of the spacecraft, coupled with the wide field of view of the VMC instrument, lets us take pictures covering a wide area of the planet in the early morning. That means we can catch it!”
The Mars Express science team have now named the cloud the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud, AMEC. So, for how long has it been disappearing and reappearing? Why does it only form in the early morning? Stay tuned as scientists continue to investigate, and we reveal more mysteries from Mars.
You can find more pictures of AMEC, as well as other ‘alien’ features of the Red Planet, on the VMC Flickr page.
http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/07/Return_of_the_extremely_elongated_cloud_on_Mars
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Water on Mars: discovery of three buried lakes intrigues scientists
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02751-1
ESA's video
https://youtu.be/Am0yFQJIGOs
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An ancient crater triplet on Mars
29/10/2020
Mars is covered in intriguing scars – some of the most prominent being impact craters. A particularly unusual example is shown in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express: an ancient triplet comprising not one but three overlapping craters.
The crater triplet is located in an especially old part of Mars’ southern hemisphere known as Noachis Terra. This region was heavily cratered during the Noachian era, an ancient time about four billion years ago in Mars’ history in which huge numbers of asteroids and comets flew inwards to crash into the planet's surface. Some of the features created by these collisions remain intact on Mars today and, as they formed during the very earliest days of the Solar System, are of particular interest to scientists seeking to know more about our planetary neighbour and its past.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/An_ancient_crater_triplet_on_Mars
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Creating chaos: Craters and collapse on Mars
19/11/2020
Elevation can be deceiving in satellite imagery of Mars, even when differences are extreme – as demonstrated by this image of Pyrrhae Regio from ESA’s Mars Express. A chunk of terrain has collapsed and dropped more than four kilometres below its surroundings, illustrating the incredible contrast and dynamism seen across the martian surface.
This slice of Mars, seen here as imaged by Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), shows signs of various intriguing processes.
A scattering of impact craters, formed as incoming bodies from space collided with Mars’ surface, can be seen to the left of the frame; the floor of the largest and uppermost basin spans about 40 kilometres, and contains some fractures and markings that formed just after the crater itself. Hot, molten rock is thought to have been thrown up during the crater-forming collision, after which it cooled and settled to form the scar-like features visible here.
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Creating_chaos_Craters_and_collapse_on_Mars
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Mars Express unlocks the secrets of curious cloud
09/03/2021
When spring arrives in southern Mars, a cloud of water ice emerges near the 20-kilometre-tall Arsia Mons volcano, rapidly stretching out for many hundreds of kilometres before fading away in mere hours. A detailed long-term study now reveals the secrets of this elongated cloud, using exciting new observations from the ‘Mars Webcam’ on ESA’s Mars Express.
Mars Express has spied this cloud before as it hovers near the Arsia Mons volcano, just south of Mars’ equator. Puzzlingly, Arsia Mons is the only low-latitude location on Mars where clouds are seen – and the only one of numerous similar volcanoes in the region to possess such a veil of cloud – at this time of year. Mars Express has seen this veil grow and fade on a daily basis throughout the spring and summer seasons, sending back striking images of this long and dramatic white cloud.
However, the cloud is difficult to observe in its entirety due to the fast, changeable dynamics of the martian atmosphere and the constraints of many spacecraft orbits, limiting our knowledge of how and why it forms and changes over time.
“To clear these hurdles, we used one of Mars Express’ secret tools – the Visual Monitoring Camera, or VMC,” says Jorge Hernández Bernal of the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, lead author of the new findings and part of a long-term project studying the cloud’s dynamics.
Jorge and colleagues’ work demonstrates an exciting, and unintended, use for the VMC. Also nicknamed the Mars Webcam, the VMC has a resolution similar to that of a standard 2003 computer webcam. It was installed to visually confirm that the Beagle 2 lander had successfully separated from Mars Express back in 2003 – after which it was switched off. Several years later, the camera was reactivated and used to gather images of Mars for public engagement and outreach activities, but remained unused for scientific research.
“However, recently, the VMC was reclassified as a camera for science,” adds Jorge. “Although it has a low spatial resolution, it has a wide field of view – essential to see the big picture at different local times of day – and is wonderful for tracking a feature’s evolution over both a long period of time and in small time steps. As a result, we could study the whole cloud across numerous life cycles.”
The research team combined the VMC observations with those from two other Mars Express instruments – OMEGA and HRSC – and from several other spacecraft, namely NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and Viking 2 missions, and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM). “We were especially excited when we dug into Viking 2’s observations from the 1970s,” says Jorge. “We found that this huge, fascinating cloud had already been partially imaged that long ago – and now we’re exploring it in detail.”
The findings revealed that, at its largest, the cloud measures some 1 800 km in length and 150 km across. It is the biggest ‘orographic’ cloud ever seen on Mars, meaning that it forms as a result of wind being forced upwards by topographic features (such as mountains or volcanoes) on a planetary surface. In this case, Arsia Mons perturbs the martian atmosphere to trigger the formation of the cloud; moist air is then driven up the flanks of the volcano in updrafts, later condensing at higher, and far cooler, altitudes.
The cloud undergoes a rapid daily cycle that repeats every morning for several months. It begins growing before sunrise on the western slope of Arsia Mons before expanding westwards for two and a half hours, growing remarkably fast – at over 600 km/h – at an altitude of 45 km. It then stops expanding, detaches from its initial location, and is pulled further westwards still by high-altitude winds, before evaporating in the late morning as air temperatures increase with the rising Sun.
“Many Mars orbiters cannot begin observing this part of the surface until the afternoon due to the properties of their orbits, so this really is the first detailed exploration of this interesting feature – and it’s made possible by not only Mars Express’ diverse suite of instruments, but also its orbit,” explains co-author Agustin Sánchez-Lavega, also of the University of the Basque Country and Science Lead for the VMC.
No other climate system in the Solar System is thought to be as similar to Earth’s as the martian system – but even still, the two planets show distinct and intriguing differences. “Although orographic clouds are commonly observed on Earth, they don’t reach such enormous lengths or show such vivid dynamics,” says Agustin. “Understanding this cloud gives us the exciting opportunity to try to replicate the cloud’s formation with models – models that will improve our knowledge of climatic systems on both Mars and Earth.”
As well as using the VMC in an exciting way, Jorge, Agustin and colleagues also overcame a typical challenge when observing transient phenomena on Mars. High-resolution cameras such as Mars Express’ HRSC have narrow fields of view, and observations are always planned in advance. As a result, meteorological phenomena – which are generally unpredictable – are usually caught by chance. However, once the researchers began to understand the life cycle and annual patterns of this elongated cloud, they were able to direct the HRSC team to the right place and right time to capture it as it emerged.
“These findings really demonstrate the strengths of Mars Express – its unique orbit, longevity, persistent quality, and ability to adapt as it tackles the mysteries of Mars,” says ESA’s Mars Express project scientist Dmitrij Titov.
“Repurposing the VMC has successfully enabled us to understand this transient cloud in a way that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The VMC allows scientists to track clouds, monitor dust storms, probe cloud and dust structures in the martian atmosphere, explore changes in the planet’s polar ice caps, and more. Its recommissioning not only supports Mars Express’ primary toolkit for Mars exploration, but adds new value to the long-standing mission, which has been revealing more about the Red Planet since 2003.”
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_unlocks_the_secrets_of_curious_cloud
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Spacecraft error data reveal cosmic ray behaviour
Using data originally gathered for spacecraft ‘housekeeping’ aboard ESA’s Rosetta and Mars Express missions, scientists have revealed how intense bursts of high-energy radiation, known as cosmic rays, behave at Mars and throughout the inner Solar System.
Related article: Unique use of ESA spacecraft ‘housekeeping’ data reveals cosmic ray behaviour (https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Unique_use_of_ESA_spacecraft_housekeeping_data_reveals_cosmic_ray_behaviour)
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/06/Spacecraft_error_data_reveal_cosmic_ray_behaviour
Image credit: ESA/Data based on Knutsen et al
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https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1415264813912137734
On Sunday evening, our #MarsExpress spacecraft was silently beaming back Martian data to @goonhillyorg's GHY6 antenna - for the very first time.
The data included these stunning images from the @esamarswebcam
#RedPlanet
#MarsWebcam
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Are there any new opportunities for Mars Express to flyby Phobos in coming years? JAXA's MMX is lagging for now.
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Are there any new opportunities for Mars Express to flyby Phobos in coming years? JAXA's MMX is lagging for now.
Mars Express performs Phobos flybys on a regular basis:
Mars Express in numbers
Launched in June 2003, ESA’s Mars Express has been studying all aspects of the Red Planet for more than 15 years. Later this year it will celebrate its 20 000th orbit of Mars. This graphic highlights some of the mission’s impressive numbers to date, which will certainly continue to increase over time.
https://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/05/Mars_Express_in_numbers
Image credit: ESA – S. Poletti
Further down that article:
Mars Express makes repeated flybys of Phobos: to date more than 50 within 500 km, and around 180 within 1000 km distance of the moon. Flybys at greater distances are also used to study Phobos' position.
I assume it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, though I haven't been able to find a list of predicted encounters.
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Are there any new opportunities for Mars Express to flyby Phobos in coming years? JAXA's MMX is lagging for now.
Mars Express performs Phobos flybys on a regular basis:
Mars Express in numbers
Further down that article:
Mars Express makes repeated flybys of Phobos: to date more than 50 within 500 km, and around 180 within 1000 km distance of the moon. Flybys at greater distances are also used to study Phobos' position.
I assume it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, though I haven't been able to find a list of predicted encounters.
Presuming ESA deems it worth the risk, what would Mars Express have to do to perform close Phobos encounters, say under 20 km?
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Are there any new opportunities for Mars Express to flyby Phobos in coming years? JAXA's MMX is lagging for now.
Mars Express performs Phobos flybys on a regular basis:
Mars Express in numbers
Further down that article:
Mars Express makes repeated flybys of Phobos: to date more than 50 within 500 km, and around 180 within 1000 km distance of the moon. Flybys at greater distances are also used to study Phobos' position.
I assume it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, though I haven't been able to find a list of predicted encounters.
Presuming ESA deems it worth the risk, what would Mars Express have to do to perform close Phobos encounters, say under 20 km?
I found this article regarding the January 2016 close flyby encounter to be enlightening (bolds mine):
Skimming Phobos (https://blogs.esa.int/mex/2016/01/13/skimming-phobos/) [dated Jan. 13, 2016]
On Thursday, 14 January, ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft will make an unusually close flyby of the largest Martian moon, Phobos, passing the surface at just 53 km at closet approach at 16:00:21 UTC (17:00 CET) on orbit 15260.
The event will mark the spacecraft’s closest flyby of the moon in 2016, and, as a point of comparison, most of the other almost-60 Phobos flybys this year will occur between several hundred up to almost 2000 km. So it’s a real skimmer!
<snip>
In the past, Mars Express has made closer flybys, but not by much. On 29 December 2013, Mars Express flew by at just 45 km, close enough that the moon’s gravity pulled the spacecraft slightly off its course, enabling new estimates of the Phobos mass and density.
The flyby is an operational challenge as well as a scientific opportunity, as the positions of the moon and Mars Express must be known very, very precisely in order to safely make the ‘skim-by’.
Commands to trigger the instruments’ observations were uploaded Thursday, 7 January, following last-minute optimisation of the expected position of Phobos relative to the spacecraft provided by the flight dynamics team at ESOC , Darmstadt.
“This is needed due to the high level of precision required to target Phobos with the instruments at such a close distance,” says Mars Express Spacecraft Operations Engineer Simon Wood.
“The activity will then take place fully automated and without intervention by the operations team at ESOC, who will be closely monitoring the flyby.”
A lot of emphasis put on precision and frequent optimisation to ensure that everything goes smoothly in these particularly close flybys. I believe an encounter under 20 km could be done, if mission scientists anticipate new data that would justify the risk; the 45 km flyby flew past Phobos too quickly to take clear pictures and was used for gravity measurements, so a sub 20 km flyby would probably do the same, just with more accuracy.
One last interesting tidbit at the end of the article:
Editor’s comment: It is interesting to note that, because the polar orbit of Mars Express intersects the equatorial orbit of Phobos, at some point in the future – long after Mars Express has depleted its fuel and has been shut down – the spacecraft is likely to impact the moon.
So Mars Express and Phobos may be fated to be together in the end regardless of what happens in these flybys ;D
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MARS EXPRESS KEEPS AN EAR OUT FOR CHINESE ROVER (https://blogs.esa.int/mex/2021/10/27/mars-express-keeps-an-ear-out-for-chinese-rover/)
- ESA’s Mars Express team is planning a series of five communication tests with the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover in November.
- The Mars Express spacecraft can ‘hear’ the rover, but the rover cannot ‘hear’ Mars Express.
- Zhurong will transmit data ‘blind’ as part of a technique designed over a decade ago but not tested in orbit until now.
- ESA will pass any received data on to the Zhurong team for analysis.
The five tests have been booked in Mars Express’ mission planning system for the following times:
- Sunday 7 November, 12:07 – 12:17 UTC
- Tuesday 16 November, 19:34 – 19:44 UTC
- Thursday 18 November, 20:27 – 20:37 UTC
- Saturday 20 November, 21:20 – 21:27 UTC
- Monday 22 November, 22:13 – 22:22 UTC
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Cross-post:
CNSA-ESA communication test successfully completed (after some challenges earlier on):
https://t.co/OqvDEnjRQF?amp=1
CLEP confirms the telecommunications tests between the Chinese rover Zhurong and ESA's orbiter Mars Express is a success. Transmission was "in the blind", since Zhurong and Mars Express cannot connect between themselves, ¡a true novelty at Mars!
https://twitter.com/Kaynouky/status/1465966964447272963
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
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ESA Mars Express relays data from CNSA Zhurong rover
Landers and rovers on Mars gather data that help scientists answer fundamental questions about the geology, atmosphere, surface environment, history of water and potential for life on the Red Planet.
To get these insights to Earth, they first transmit the data up to spacecraft in orbit around Mars. These orbiters then use their much larger, more powerful transmitters to ‘relay’ the data across space to Earth.
“Normally, an orbiter like ESA’s Mars Express first sends down a hail signal to a rover as a ‘hello’,” says James Godfrey, Mars Express Spacecraft Operations Manager.
“The rover then sends back a response to establish stable communications and begin the two-way exchange of information. But this relies on the rover’s radio system being compatible with the orbiter’s.”
As Mars Express transmits its ‘hello’ signal using communication frequencies that are different from those the Chinese Zhurong Mars rover receives, two-way communication is not possible.
But in the other direction, Zhurong can transmit a signal using a frequency that Mars Express can receive.
The relay radio on Mars Express has a mode that allows this one-way communication – communication ‘in the blind’ where the sender can’t be sure if their signal is being received – but until now, the technique hadn’t been tested on the spacecraft.
In November, ESA’s Mars Express and CNSA’s Zhurong teams carried out a series of experimental communication tests in which Mars Express used this ‘in the blind’ mode to listen for signals sent to it by the Zhurong Rover.
The experiments culminated in a successful test on 20 November.
“Mars Express successfully received the signals sent by the rover, and our colleagues in the Zhurong team confirmed that all the data arrived on Earth in very good quality.” says ESA’s Gerhard Billig.
“We’re looking forward to carrying out more tests in future to continue to experiment and further improve this method of communicating between space missions.”
The data relayed by Mars Express arrived on Earth at ESA’s ESOC space operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, via deep-space communication antennas. From there, these data were forwarded to the Zhurong team at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, who confirmed the success of the test.
Related article: A one-way phone call at Mars (https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/A_one-way_phone_call_at_Mars)
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/12/ESA_Mars_Express_relays_data_from_CNSA_Zhurong_rover
Image credit: ESA
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
Shorter version is that there are several ways to set up a dumb repeater. Compatibility with whatever the Chinese modulation scheme is wouldn't be that hard for most types as long as you consider it when you're building the gear.
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
Shorter version is that there are several ways to set up a dumb repeater. Compatibility with whatever the Chinese modulation scheme is wouldn't be that hard for most types as long as you consider it when you're building the gear.
If it's just a transponder, you don't even need to know the modulation. Just the frequency and the polarization.
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
Shorter version is that there are several ways to set up a dumb repeater. Compatibility with whatever the Chinese modulation scheme is wouldn't be that hard for most types as long as you consider it when you're building the gear.
If it's just a transponder, you don't even need to know the modulation. Just the frequency and the polarization.
You lose bandwidth doing that. It's better to detect and fix errors on each hop. Computing is cheaper than communications. There should be no real-time constraints on transmissions from Mars. In any case it's probably store and forward, there's no reason for the bandwidths of the two links to be the same.
That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
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Infographic: 'Fake' flybys help solve Phobos mystery
Using a series of 'real' and 'fake' flybys, ESA's Mars Express has clarified a long-standing martian mystery: if and how Mars' largest moon, Phobos, reflects the solar wind.
This infographic shows three Mars Express flybys that occurred in July 2008, January 2016 and May 2017 – the former two being 'real' flybys completed in the vicinity of Phobos, and latter being a 'fake' flyby performed to clarify whether a particular signal detected by the spacecraft was a true detection of a process taking place on Phobos, or if it was due to reflection of particles from Mars Express itself.
- Related article: ESA’s Mars Express unravels mystery of martian moon using 'fake' flybys (https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/ESA_s_Mars_Express_unravels_mystery_of_martian_moon_using_fake_flybys)
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2021/12/Infographic_Fake_flybys_help_solve_Phobos_mystery
Image credit: ESA
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
because the frequency range assigned to the protocol that landers/rovers use to communicate is split into a series of channels
To establish a 2 way link the orbiter must transmit a hail sequence that the rovers receiver detects as being for it, and then initiates its transmitter to send the response to the orbiter and then the 2 way link is up and running.
The issue in this case is simply that the channel on which Zhurongs receiver is listening for the hail and the channel that the UHF radio on Mars Express transmits its hail on are different So Zhurong cannot detect the hail signal from Mars Express.
Zhurong can however transmit in the blind on the channel that Mars Express can listen on.
So if it does this, then once Mars Express has acquired the signal from Zhurong it can acquire the data encoded on the transmission and store it on its mass memory unit for transmission back to earth.
So its a 1 way link rather than a 2 way link
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
Shorter version is that there are several ways to set up a dumb repeater. Compatibility with whatever the Chinese modulation scheme is wouldn't be that hard for most types as long as you consider it when you're building the gear.
If it's just a transponder, you don't even need to know the modulation. Just the frequency and the polarization.
You lose bandwidth doing that. It's better to detect and fix errors on each hop. Computing is cheaper than communications. There should be no real-time constraints on transmissions from Mars. In any case it's probably store and forward, there's no reason for the bandwidths of the two links to be the same.
That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
I described a real-time "bent pipe", which is the way essentially GEO satellites worked until some time after 2015. A "bent pipe" transponder operates purely in the analog domain, with no demodulation or decoding. Some first-generation LEO constellations also use "bent pipe" schemes, where all of the intelligence is at the teleport. You are describing a system that operates in the digital domain. It requires the relay to be compatible at multiple levels, and the handshake is the least complicated. The relay must demodulate the signal, which requires a compatible demodulator for that "MOD" (modulation scheme). There are three MODs that are fairly basic: BPSK, QPSK, and 8PSK. Anything more sophisticated (there are thousands of variants) would to need to have been prearranged at design time. Demodulation lets you find the beginning of each FEC block and lets you extract the raw bits of each "FEC block". Forward error correction (FEC) is a scheme where the sender adds a lot of extra bits so bit errors can be corrected. There are thousands of possible FEC algorithms. Unless the two systems have a compatible FEC encoding (a "COD") the receiver cannot extract the corrected data from each block. FEC decoding is in general too compute-intensive for a general-purpose CPU, so it is burned into hard logic at design time.
After the data is extracted, the data from these fixed-size blocks is concatenated into a bitstream, which generally has data in the form of packets. To extract and store this data, the receiver must understand the protocol being used by the transmitter. Even in a one-way situation, this will often be a multilayer protocol. This is generally handled by software in a CPU, so in theory the receiver can boot a new program to implement a new protocol.
Given all this, I hope you can see why I thought that the relay might be a "bent pipe" transponder, especially since this was described as a demonstration.
There is a great deal that I do not know about rockets and deep space hardware, but I worked as a systems architect for iDirect for ten years and for Oneweb for two years. I also worked on protocols for my entire 40+ year professional career.
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Mars Express can't do bent pipe. Partly for technical reasons, but also due to the layout of the spacecraft.
It has a fixed high gain antenna, so it can't point the HGA at Earth and the UHF antennas at the rovers at the same time.
Some of the NASA orbiters can do bent pipe, retransmitting the data received via the UHF link via their X-band link. This is what was done for the MSL and Perseverance landings. Bent pipe is useful for EDL but not really used outside of that.
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I don't understand what happened. How did they communicate if they are unable to connect to each other?
Shorter version is that there are several ways to set up a dumb repeater. Compatibility with whatever the Chinese modulation scheme is wouldn't be that hard for most types as long as you consider it when you're building the gear.
If it's just a transponder, you don't even need to know the modulation. Just the frequency and the polarization.
You lose bandwidth doing that. It's better to detect and fix errors on each hop. Computing is cheaper than communications. There should be no real-time constraints on transmissions from Mars. In any case it's probably store and forward, there's no reason for the bandwidths of the two links to be the same.
That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
Why do you think a technology test is "for show"?
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Mars Express can't do bent pipe. Partly for technical reasons, but also due to the layout of the spacecraft.
It has a fixed high gain antenna, so it can't point the HGA at Earth and the UHF antennas at the rovers at the same time.
Some of the NASA orbiters can do bent pipe, retransmitting the data received via the UHF link via their X-band link. This is what was done for the MSL and Perseverance landings. Bent pipe is useful for EDL but not really used outside of that.
I would never use "bent pipe" if I had the ability to do a digital relay, but the layman's explanations in the press made it seem that the relay did not know the transmitter's MODCOD. There is an alternative store-and-forward technique but it's horribly storage-inefficient: store the I and Q samples and then replay them. Same TX bandwidth, but storage will be somewhere around 32 times larger. If they knew the modulation and the baud rate they could also demodulate and store the raw bitstream and then replay that, at a mere doubling of the data size, but this loses some information that a bleeding-edge FEC decoder can use to increase its error correction robustness.
Is there a description of the actual technique they used available somewhere?
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That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
Why do you think a technology test is "for show"?
Because I'm cynical about international relations.
I imagine the diplomat to engineer ratio is rather high. Most of the effort will be administrative and procedural. From the outside it's almost impossible to tell if the coordination effort develops useful lines of communications or is a heroic Rude Goldberg construct that can only teach us that we never want to do that again.
The actual technological test is a very small part of the effort; was probably completed months ago in a couple of screen rooms; and will have a result about as surprising as finding out that American astronauts can breathe Russian oxygen. You probably do need to test that, but it's not worth a press release.
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Is there a description of the actual technique they used available somewhere?
Normal links are handled via the Proximity-1 protocol theres an overview of it here
https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/210x0g2.pdf (https://public.ccsds.org/Pubs/210x0g2.pdf)
Frames recieved from the landers are stored onboard and then transmitted back to earth in our next groundstation pass.
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That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
Why do you think a technology test is "for show"?
Because I'm cynical about international relations.
I imagine the diplomat to engineer ratio is rather high. Most of the effort will be administrative and procedural. From the outside it's almost impossible to tell if the coordination effort develops useful lines of communications or is a heroic Rude Goldberg construct that can only teach us that we never want to do that again.
The actual technological test is a very small part of the effort; was probably completed months ago in a couple of screen rooms; and will have a result about as surprising as finding out that American astronauts can breathe Russian oxygen. You probably do need to test that, but it's not worth a press release.
A successful test is generally worth a press release, especially when it is difficult involving multiple countries and not initially compatible systems. Your cynicism is unwarranted and your comparsion about Russian O2 is invalid.
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It should be pretty obvious that China would like to have a backup data relay, both as a contingency if their orbiter fails and to increase opportunities for relay when their orbiter is mapping the rest of the planet. They can't use NASA assets so ESA assets are the most likely alternative. ESA may be able to negotiate data access in exchange, so plenty of reasons for doing this. But the process has to be tested, and that's just been done. All perfectly straightforward and pretty much what we would expect to see.
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That's assuming it's a serious attempt to get data from Mars, rather than just for show.
Why do you think a technology test is "for show"?
Because I'm cynical about international relations.
I imagine the diplomat to engineer ratio is rather high. Most of the effort will be administrative and procedural. From the outside it's almost impossible to tell if the coordination effort develops useful lines of communications or is a heroic Rude Goldberg construct that can only teach us that we never want to do that again.
The actual technological test is a very small part of the effort; was probably completed months ago in a couple of screen rooms; and will have a result about as surprising as finding out that American astronauts can breathe Russian oxygen. You probably do need to test that, but it's not worth a press release.
Don't underestimate the value of heroic Rube-Goldberg constructs. Some data is always better than zero data, as Galileo demonstrated with 1/8500 its design downlink bandwidth.
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It should be pretty obvious that China would like to have a backup data relay, both as a contingency if their orbiter fails and to increase opportunities for relay when their orbiter is mapping the rest of the planet. They can't use NASA assets so ESA assets are the most likely alternative. ESA may be able to negotiate data access in exchange, so plenty of reasons for doing this. But the process has to be tested, and that's just been done. All perfectly straightforward and pretty much what we would expect to see.
Funny thing about using ESA's deep space network: the DSA 3 big antenna is in Malargüe, Argentina, just 275km from CNSA's own Estación de Espacio Profundo in Neuquén. I'm pretty sure that they could get the info simultaneously. :D
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Funny thing about using ESA's deep space network: the DSA 3 big antenna is in Malargüe, Argentina, just 275km from CNSA's own Estación de Espacio Profundo in Neuquén. I'm pretty sure that they could get the info simultaneously. :D
In this context "on Earth" counts as close. :D Any large dish on the Mars facing side of Earth should be able to receive simultaneously.
The 0.25dB half angle beam width is going to be something like 70,000km at distance of 50 million km, three meter diameter transmitter using X band.
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New studies suggest that Mars Express did not discover currently liquid water underneath a polar ice cap.
Here's a report from July on a study that concluded that it was probably frozen clay:
https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/ (https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/)
And another about a study that just came out concluding that the bright reflection came from a volcanic plain:
https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/ (https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/)
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New studies suggest that Mars Express did not discover currently liquid water underneath a polar ice cap.
Here's a report from July on a study that concluded that it was probably frozen clay:
https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/ (https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/)
And another about a study that just came out concluding that the bright reflection came from a volcanic plain:
https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/ (https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/)
Other recent studies confirm it is most likely water. https://scitechdaily.com/liquid-water-confirmed-beneath-martian-south-polar-cap/
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New studies suggest that Mars Express did not discover currently liquid water underneath a polar ice cap.
Here's a report from July on a study that concluded that it was probably frozen clay:
https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/ (https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/)
And another about a study that just came out concluding that the bright reflection came from a volcanic plain:
https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/ (https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/)
Other recent studies confirm it is most likely water. https://scitechdaily.com/liquid-water-confirmed-beneath-martian-south-polar-cap/
Sounds like a case of being unsure what's under the ice, even with the MARSIS studies. Would this be an issue where ground-based radar and/or drilling required to confirm?
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New studies suggest that Mars Express did not discover currently liquid water underneath a polar ice cap.
Here's a report from July on a study that concluded that it was probably frozen clay:
https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/ (https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/)
And another about a study that just came out concluding that the bright reflection came from a volcanic plain:
https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/ (https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/)
Other recent studies confirm it is most likely water. https://scitechdaily.com/liquid-water-confirmed-beneath-martian-south-polar-cap/
Sounds like a case of being unsure what's under the ice, even with the MARSIS studies. Would this be an issue where ground-based radar and/or drilling required to confirm?
Ground based radar is unlikely to help much, just have higher resolution. A colleague of mine calls GPR "tea leaf reading" :)
Other techniques might provide some light - magnetotellurics, various EM and conductivity sounding. Seismic could be the best.
Drilling would be very helpful but drilling deep holes on the polar ice cap is SF for the foreseeable future.
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Software upgrade for 19-year-old martian water-spotter (https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Software_upgrade_for_19-year-old_martian_water-spotter)
In brief
The MARSIS instrument on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, famous for its role in the discovery of signs of liquid water on the Red Planet, is receiving a major software upgrade that will allow it to see beneath the surfaces of Mars and its moon Phobos in more detail than ever before.
Mars Express was ESA’s first mission to the Red Planet. Launched 19 years ago, on 2 June 2003, the orbiter has spent almost two decades studying Earth’s neighbour and revolutionising our understanding of the history, present and future of Mars.
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Europe's veteran Mars orbiter gets upgrade to key instrument for seeking water..
https://twitter.com/Nick_Stevens_Gr/status/1540623095081361413
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Global map of hydrated minerals on Mars
Data from two Mars missions have been used to create the first detailed global map of hydrated mineral deposits on Mars. These minerals are predominately clays and salts, and can be used to tell the history of water in the planet’s various regions. For the most part, the clays were created on Mars during its early wet period, whereas many of the salts that are still visible today were produced as the water gradually dried up.
The map has been painstakingly created over the last decade using data from ESA’s Mars Express Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) instrument and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) instrument.
Various landing sites and areas of interest are shown on the map. Mawrth Vallis is an ancient water outflow channel that is rich in clays. Oxia Planum is another clay-rich region and has been selected as the landing site for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover. Meridiani Planum straddles the martian equator and was the landing spot for NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2004. Valles Marineris is one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. Gale crater and Jezero crater were the landing sites of NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers in 2012 and 2020 respectively.
The clays shown on the map include iron and magnesium phyllosilicates, zeolites and aluminosilicate clays. The salts shown are carbonates made of carbon and oxygen.
Related article: New water map of Mars will prove invaluable for future exploration (https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/New_water_map_of_Mars_will_prove_invaluable_for_future_exploration)
Image credit: ESA/Mars Express (OMEGA) and NASA/Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (CRISM)
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2022/08/Global_map_of_hydrated_minerals_on_Mars
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New studies suggest that Mars Express did not discover currently liquid water underneath a polar ice cap.
Here's a report from July on a study that concluded that it was probably frozen clay:
https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/ (https://scitechdaily.com/doubt-cast-on-premise-of-subsurface-liquid-water-lakes-on-mars-may-just-be-frozen-clay/)
And another about a study that just came out concluding that the bright reflection came from a volcanic plain:
https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/ (https://scitechdaily.com/misled-by-a-mars-mirage-hope-for-present-day-martian-groundwater-dries-up/)
Other recent studies confirm it is most likely water. https://scitechdaily.com/liquid-water-confirmed-beneath-martian-south-polar-cap/
Sounds like a case of being unsure what's under the ice, even with the MARSIS studies. Would this be an issue where ground-based radar and/or drilling required to confirm?
More radar may not help much, but seismic, because it measures different properties (acoustic velocity rather than dielectric permittivity) may help. Drilling will be out until we can drilling 2-3 km holes through martian ice.
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https://flic.kr/p/2nHHRp5
Perspective view of Holden Basin
This oblique perspective view of part of Mars’ informally named Holden Basin was generated from the digital terrain model and the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express.
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I heard there was a Phobos flyby where the radar was utilized. Anyone hear details on that?
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ESA put out this short summary of the results a few days ago.
https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/A_close_encounter_with_a_mysterious_moon
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What's the current status of Mars Express? Wiki has the mission extension running to end of 2022.
Does anybody know how much longer it is expected to operate?
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What's the current status of Mars Express? Wiki has the mission extension running to end of 2022.
Does anybody know how much longer it is expected to operate?
https://sci.esa.int/web/director-desk/-/extended-life-for-esa-s-science-missions
The science operations of Mars Express are extended until end of 2026 and the SPC also approved the indicative extension of Mars Express from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028, enabling support to the JAXA-led Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. This will be followed by two years of post-operations; the extension to 2028 will be reviewed in 2025/2026, after MMX launch and arrival at Mars.
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What's the current status of Mars Express? Wiki has the mission extension running to end of 2022.
Does anybody know how much longer it is expected to operate?
https://sci.esa.int/web/director-desk/-/extended-life-for-esa-s-science-missions
The science operations of Mars Express are extended until end of 2026 and the SPC also approved the indicative extension of Mars Express from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028, enabling support to the JAXA-led Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission. This will be followed by two years of post-operations; the extension to 2028 will be reviewed in 2025/2026, after MMX launch and arrival at Mars.
Excellent news, thank you!
Mars Express is a phenomenal little spacecraft.
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20 years and counting: Mars Express in numbers
02/06/2023
Exactly two decades ago, on 2 June 2003, ESA’s Mars Express orbiter launched and began its journey to the Red Planet – Europe’s first ever mission to Mars.
The spacecraft aimed to enter orbit around Mars (something it did in December of that year) and use its vantage point to study the martian atmosphere and climate, unravel the planet’s structure, mineralogy and geology, and search for traces of water across its surface. The mission carried a state-of-the-art package of eight instruments to achieve this, enabling it to probe surface, subsurface, atmosphere and more.
Mars Express has now been in space for two decades, despite a planned initial lifetime of just 687 Earth days. It has achieved its aforementioned aims and revealed a wealth of knowledge about Mars in that time, making it undeniably one of the most successful missions ever sent to the Red Planet. This graphic highlights some of the mission’s most impressive numbers to date, from the 1.1 billion km travelled over 24 000+ Mars orbits to the 170+ PhD students trained and 1800+ scientific papers published using Mars Express data. More record-breaking milestones were highlighted in an infographic released in 2019 to mark the mission’s 15-year anniversary.
The past 20 years of observations from Mars Express have solidified our picture of Mars as a once-habitable planet, with warmer and wetter epochs that may have been oases for ancient life. This is a monumental shift from our previous view of the planet, which characterised it as an eternally cold and arid world.
Mars Express has identified and mapped signs of past water across Mars – from minerals that only form in the presence of water to water-carved valleys, groundwater systems, and ponds lurking below ground – and traced its influence and prevalence through martian history. It has peered deep into the martian atmosphere, mapping how gases (water, ozone, methane) are distributed and escape to space, and watching as dust is whipped up from the surface into the air. The mission has seen giant dust storms engulf the planet, creating familiar clouds like those we see on Earth, and tracked rare ultraviolet auroras.
The orbiter has seen signs of recent and episodic volcanism and tectonics, and explored the planet’s unique surface features, mapping 98.8% of Mars and creating thousands of 3D images of impact craters, canyons (including the Valles Marineris system), the planet’s icy poles, immense volcanoes and more. It has studied Mars’ innermost moon Phobos in unprecedented detail – passing as close as 45 km from the mysterious moon – and watched Mars’ smaller moon, Deimos, as it travels through the Solar System.
Alongside its focus on Mars’ science, Mars Express has supported many other missions as they either hunt for a suitable landing site, travel to the planet, communicate with ground stations back on Earth, or touch down on the martian surface. Its data continues to support significant scientific research and discovery, including the training of new and early career researchers who will reveal the secrets of the cosmos in the decades to come. And the mission’s support of martian exploration is far from over; Mars Express’s latest extension enables it to support the JAXA-led Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission when it arrives in 2025.
Notes:
Mars Express launched on 2 June 2003, and entered orbit around Mars on 25 December 2003
The mission was originally designed to last 1 Mars year (1.88 Earth years, or 687 Earth days), but has been granted repeated extensions to continue its operations at Mars for 10.3 Mars years (and counting).
The spacecraft celebrated 10 martian years in orbit on 16 October 2022
The orbiter will continue its study of Mars until at least the end of 2026, with an indicative extension from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2028 to support the JAXA-led Mars Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, followed by two years of post-operations. More information
Mars Express has conducted data relay for seven rovers and landing platforms (more information), and enabled scientific collaboration with a further five orbiters
The Visual Monitoring Camera was 'upgraded' to a scientific camera in 2016; there are seven other instruments that together make up the scientific payload.
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2023/05/20_years_and_counting_Mars_Express_in_numbers
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And Mars "Live" from 16.00UTC on youtube .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qyVNqeJ6wQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qyVNqeJ6wQ)
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You've never seen Earth and the moon like this before.
The Mars Express spacecraft recently celebrated 20 years in space by taking a nostalgic look back at Earth and the moon from the Red Planet. The images captured by the European Space Agency (ESA) craft show our planet and its natural satellite as little more than a large white dot crossed by a smaller white dot.
And while this may not be the most spectacular image from space ever seen, the Mars Express picture demonstrates the distance between Earth and the Red Planet and what an achievement it is to put vehicles on and around our neighbor planet.
https://www.space.com/mars-express-sees-earth-moon-photos
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https://twitter.com/esa/status/1692873119411617842
📷 Becquerel crater on Mars, taken by ESA's #MarsExpress. A mound of light-coloured sulphate deposits sits inside the crater amid dark wind-blown deposits. The smaller crater inside Becquerel is about 50 km across 👉
https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESAC/A_radiating_beauty_on_Mars
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Mars Express celebrates 25 000 orbits (https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_celebrates_25_000_orbits)
ESA’s Mars Express recently looped around Mars for the 25 000th time – and the orbiter has captured yet another spectacular view of the Red Planet to mark the occasion.
The new high-altitude view was taken by Mars Express's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). It features many of Mars’s towering volcanoes and even includes a surprise appearance from the planet’s largest moon, Phobos.
Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin