Tag Archives: European Space Agency

Mars Express: Keeping an eye on a 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 … Continue reading

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Mars Express: Recent tectonics on Mars

These prominent trenches were formed by faults that pulled the planet’s surface apart less than 10 million years ago. The images were taken by ESA’s Mars Express on 27 January, and capture part of the Cerberus Fossae system in the … Continue reading

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ExoMars: Measures radiation risk for Mars astronauts, watches dust storm subside

Astronauts on a mission to Mars would be exposed to at least 60% of the total radiation dose limit recommended for their career during the journey itself to and from the Red Planet, according to data from the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars … Continue reading

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Trace Gas Orbiter: Frosty crater on Mars

This image shows the south-facing rim of a pit crater at 68°S in the Sisyphi Planum region of Mars. It is a colour composite made from images acquired on 2 September 2018 by the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, … Continue reading

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Mars Express: From worry to water

In 2004, a year after Europe’s first mission to Mars was launched, the flight dynamics team at ESA’s operations centre encountered a serious problem. New computer models showed a worrying fate for the Mars Express spacecraft if mission controllers continued … Continue reading

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Mars Express radar finds liquid water under Mars south polar region

Editor’s note: NASA has commented on this discovery. Radar data collected by ESA’s Mars Express point to a pond of liquid water buried under layers of ice and dust in the south polar region of Mars. [The researchers’ paper reporting … Continue reading

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Wanted: A name for the ExoMars 2020 rover

The UK Space Agency has launched a competition to name a rover that is going to Mars to search for signs of life. Due to launch in 2020, the UK-built rover is part of ESA’s ExoMars mission. It will investigate … Continue reading

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Mars Express: As the dust storm rolled in

The high resolution stereo camera on board ESA’s Mars Express captured this impressive upwelling front of dust clouds – visible in the right half of the frame – near the north polar ice cap of Mars in April this year. … Continue reading

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Radar shows Mars atmosphere behaves as a single system

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. … Continue reading

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Exploring planetary plasma environments by laptop

A new database of plasma simulations, combined with observational data and powerful visualisation tools, is providing planetary scientists with an unprecedented way to explore some of the Solar System’s most interesting plasma environments. This digital space exploration story starts with … Continue reading

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