Thursday, March 28, 2024

The European Space Agency Has Logged 25,000 Orbits Of Mars -- With Its Mars Express Spacecraft...


It is important to remember that planetary science is a multi-national effort.

So, today I thought we'd highlight ESA's recent milestone: 25,000 passes over the Red Planet -- though in these images, it is more an ochre, to my eye. Here's the bit:

. . .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.

Mars Express arrived at Mars in late 2003, and completed its 25 000th orbit on 19 October 2023. In the two decades since its arrival, the orbiter has completely transformed our understanding of the planet. It’s mapped the atmosphere more completely than ever before, traced the history of water across Mars's surface, studied the two small martian moons in unprecedented detail, and returned breathtaking views of the planet in three dimensions.

This new image is no exception.

It focuses on the Tharsis region, which covers about one-quarter of the planet’s surface and is home to Mars’s famously colossal volcanoes. Many volcanoes can be seen here: Olympus, Arsia, Pavonis and Ascraeus Mons, and Jovis, Biblis and Ulysses Tholus. Olympus Mons is the largest, reaching nearly 22 km high (compared to Mount Everest’s 8.8 km here on Earth). . . .


Now you know -- off to the park with baby-girls on Spring Break, grinning!

नमस्ते

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