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Mars Express
The striking landscape of Hydraotes Chaos on Mars
The first HRSC image, which was unveiled to the public in January 2004, showed the Hydraotes Chaos region - a labyrinth of mesas created by the eroding effect of masses of water draining away and ground collapsing to form great voids. Since then, the Mars Express probe has orbited Mars about 19,000 times at different altitudes. As a result, global coverage has seen constant improvement, with image resolutions of down to 12 metres per pixel. The image here shows a view recently acquired by HRSC from the equator looking north over the striking landscape of Hydraotes Chaos with its more than 2000-metre-high table-mountain outliers in the foreground. The outflow channels of Simud Valles (left) and Tiu Valles (right), which are up to 80 kilometres wide and more than 1000 kilometres long, extend as far as the horizon.
Landslides and delta-shaped alluvial fans
In the north, the Aurorae Chaos region is bound by a wall more than 3000 metres high. Along this steep – and unstable in places – surface feature, large rock masses break loose repeatedly, forming huge alluvial fan deposits. Semicircular indentations are left behind in the terrain edge. The landslides were most likely 'lubricated' by water, which existed as ice within hollow spaces under the plateau and suddenly melted. This would explain the alluvial fans extending into the Aurorae basin as well as the occasional flow structures.
Mission | |
|---|---|
Launch: | 2 June 2003, 19.45 CEST |
Arrival in Mars orbit: | 25 December 2003, 04.00 CET |
Launch site: | Baikonur, Kasachstan |
Launcher: | Soyus/Fregat |
Ground stations: | Perth (Australia), Kourou (French Guiana) |
Operational times: | 6.5 - 7 hours per day |
Mission Control: | European Space Operations Center (ESOC), Darmstadt |
Nominal mission: | 1 Mars year (ca. 2 Earth years ~ 687 days); because of its enormous scientific yield, ESA has extended the Mars Express mission several times, with the most recent extension lasting until 2026. |
Orbit type: | Ellipse, Final orbit: 250 km (closest approach to Mars) x 11.583 km (furthest point from Mars); Inclination 87 degrees; Orbit period 7.5 hours |
Spacecraft | |
|---|---|
Launch mass: | 1042 kg (427 kg fuel) |
Scientific payload: | Orbiter 116 kg, Lander 60 kg |
Dimensions: | Orbiter 1.5 m x 1.8 m x 1.4 m; Solar arm mit 12 m width, Surface area 11.42 sq metres |
Energy supply: | Orbiter: Solar arm: Si-cells, 660W with 1.5 AE; Energy storage 3 Li-Ion batteries, Overall capacity 64.8 Ah; Power supply 28 V; Maximum performance 450 W |
Data communication: | X-band (7,1 GHz) and S-band (2,1 GHz). Communication: omnidirectional low-gain antenna (LGA), 4 m; directional high-gain antenna (HGA), 1.8 m; 2 di-pole antennas, both 20 m |
Propulsion: | 8 engines for orbit corrections, each can thrust 10 Newtons; 1 master engine for braking in Mars orbit, thrust 400 Newton; stabilisers |
Instruments Orbiter | |
|---|---|
HRSC (High-Resolution Stereoscopic Camera) | German-led project: Study of the atmosphere, surface and gravitation |
MaRS (Mars Radio Science Experiment) | German-led project: Study of the atmosphere, surface and gravitation |
PFS (Planetary Fourier Spectrometer) | Italian-led project; German participation: Infrared spectrometer for the investigation of the atmosphere |
ASPERA (Analyser of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms) | Swedish-led project: Analysis of the reciprocal effect of the Mars atmosphere with the interplanetary medium |
MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding) | Italian-led project: Investigation of the Martian soil depth and also the upper atmosphere |
OMEGA (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité) | French-led project; developed for the Mars-96 mission: Infrared spectrometer for the investigation of the surface composition |
SPICAM (Spectroscopic Investigation of the Atmosphere of Mars) | developed for the Rosetta mission: Ultraviolet spectrometer for the investigation of the atmosphere |
Flight over Jezero Crater – landing site of the Mars 2020 mission
A simulated flight over Jezero Crater on Mars. Home to a standing body of water more than 3.5 billion years ago, this crater is where NASA’s Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover will land to search for signs of past microbial life. The video is based on data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which has been in orbit around Mars since 2003. HRSC is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Image: 1/22, Credit:
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/HRSC Science Team
Video animation: Mars Express completes 20,000 orbits
Simulated overflight of the Red Planet, including various 'chaotic areas', outflow channels and craters to the east of the Valles Marineris canyon, just north of the equator. On 26 October 2019, the Mars Express spacecraft orbited Mars for the twenty-thousandth time. The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) developed and built by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in collaboration with German industry, has been photographing the planet's surface on board Mars Express since January 2004 – at resolutions of up to 10 metres per pixel, in colour and in three dimensions. This is the first global topographic collection of image data for a planet other than Earth. The topographic image maps generated using the HRSC are of great scientific benefit. Digital HRSC terrain models are also used when selecting landing sites, such as for NASA's InSight geophysical observatory or the ExoMars (ESA, due to launch in 2020), Curiosity and Mars 2020 (NASA) rovers.
Image: 2/22, Credit:
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/HRSC Science Team
Webcast: Landing sites on Mars
Laetitia Le Deit, a planetary geologist at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, investigates sites on the surface of Mars that are well suited for landers and are of particular interest to research.
Image: 22/22, Credit:
DLR (CC-BY 3.0)
