Mars Express
Mars Express, named for its rapid and streamlined development, was
ESA’s first spacecraft to visit another planet in the Solar System. Having
deployed the UK’s Beagle-2 lander five days previously, it entered orbit
around the Red Planet on 25th December 2003. As with the current
ExoMars mission, contact with the lander was lost, although it was iden-
tified, partially deployed on the surface, in images from NASA’s Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter early in 2015.
At the time of its arrival, Mars Express was going to carry out the most
detailed and complete exploration of Mars ever done. It was the first
to conduct a thorough search for water on the Red Planet, from below
ground and up into the atmosphere. The scientific objectives of the
mission include detailed global high-resolution photo-geology of the
planet, besides geochemical and mineralogical mapping of its surface,
and even studies of the near sub-surface in the search for permafrost.
Its suite of instruments is also designed to study atmospheric composi-
tion, global atmospheric circulation and surface-atmosphere interac-
tion, as well as interaction of the atmosphere with the interplanetary
medium.
PERSPECTIVE VIEW IN AURORAE CHAOS/GANGES CHASMA: A close-up of features in Ganges Chasma, close to Aurorae Chaos,
imaged by ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. The image focuses on the valley walls in this region, which show evidence for slumping and land-
slides. Material closest to the valley floor shows a stepped morphology, which could reflect different water or ice levels over time. Small
channels are observed on the cliff tops. Cred it: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
This very successful mission – coming up for 13 years – has produced
a wide range of significant results, some of its main achievements being
the detection of hydrated minerals, including phyllosilicates (clays), the
identification of recent glacial landforms, and most intriguingly the pos-
sible detection of methane in the atmosphere. This latter phenomenon
is one of the main targets for study of ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
Beyond its ongoing science mission, Mars Express also forms, with
the NASA orbiters, part of a communications infrastructure currently
active at Mars for other missions. Because of its great success, ESA has
extended the mission for a further two years, until 2018. This will give the
High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board more opportunities to
record the entire surface of Mars in high resolution, colour and, above
all, in 3D.
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