Mars Express

active Mission

The European Space Agency's first visit to another planet, the craft has captured high-resolution 3D images of the Martian surface, detected subsurface layers of water ice, vast reserves of ice at the poles, swaths of permafrost at the south pole, and traces of possible methane in the atmosphere, as well as visiting the tiny moons Deimos and Phobos.

Type

Orbiter

Launch

June 2, 2003

Target

Mars

Partners

NASA, Italian Space Agency (ASI)

Launch Date	June 2, 2003 \| 17:45 UTC
Launch Site	Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Russia
Destination	Mars
Type	Orbiter
Status	Successful – Extended Mission in Progress
Nation	Europe
Alternate Names	2003-022A, Mars Express Orbiter

Goals

Study the Martian atmosphere and climate, the planet's structure, its mineralogy and its geology, and to search for traces of water from orbit. Mars Express also carried Britain’s unsuccessful Beagle 2 lander.

Accomplishments

Sent back thousands of dramatic, 3D views of the Martian surface from the spacecraft’s high-resolution camera
Discovered hydrated minerals that form only in the presence of liquid water, providing confirmation that Mars was once much wetter than it is today
Detected subsurface layers of water ice, using the first radar sounder ever to orbit another planet
Identified enough water ice in the polar caps to create a global ocean 36 feet (11 meters) deep, and revealed vast plains of permafrost around the south pole

Mars Express found the highest clouds ever seen above any planetary surface at an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers). The mission found indications of the possible presence of methane, which on Earth is attributed to active volcanism and biochemical processes.

Its highly elliptical orbit has enabled the spacecraft to look beyond Mars, to survey its two tiny moons – in particular studying the innermost satellite, Phobos, in unprecedented detail.

During its lifetime it has acted as a communication relay between Earth and various NASA spacecraft, including the Phoenix lander and several rovers on the surface.