2023-06-02 15:48:13
The event marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Mars Express orbiter, a mission to take three-dimensional images of the planet’s surface in order to observe it in great detail.
Updated approximately every 50 seconds, these images are transmitted directly from the Martian orbiter’s visual surveillance camera.
« It is an old camera, originally planned for technical purposes, at a distance of almost three million kilometers from the Earth. »
% this will work”,”text”:”To be honest, we’re not 100% sure this will work””>To be honest, we’re not 100% sure this will work.
moderates James Godfrey, head of space operations at the mission control center of theASE in Darmstadt, Germany.
A space first
Usually, when we see images of Mars, they were taken a few days before.
said James Godfrey.
« I can’t wait to see Mars as it is today – as close to a “Martian now” as possible. »
Most observations and data collected by spacecraft are made during periods when they are not in direct contact with the antenna of an earth station.
Thus, these images are stored until they can be sent back to Earth.
Depending on where Mars and Earth are in their orbit around the Sun, messages traveling through space can take anywhere from 3 to 22 minutes.
To start the live broadcast, theASE estimates that it will take about 17 minutes for the light needed to form the images to travel directly from Mars to Earth, then another minute to pass through cables and servers on the ground.
We have never attempted anything like this before, so the exact run times of the ground signals remain somewhat uncertain.
the agency said in a statement.
Mars Express
Launched on June 2, 2003 for two years, the European Mars Express probe initially consisted of an orbiter, which carried seven remote sensing and observation instruments, and a lander, the Beagle 2.
Mars Express sent its first signal from its orbit around the planet on December 25, 2003. Then attempts to communicate with Beagle 2, which was due to land on Mars also on Christmas Day 2003, were unsuccessful. The Beagle 2 mission was declared lost on February 6, 2004.
As for the orbiter, it began its scientific observations as planned in January 2004. It studies from the atmosphere of Mars the structure of the planet and its geology.
Key Achievements
The data transmitted by its infrared spectrometer Omega made it possible to establish the presence of minerals forming only after the prolonged exposure of volcanic rocks to water.
Artist’s impression of the Mars Express orbiter probing the planet’s surface, and the result of Marsis radar work seen above.
Photo: ESA/INAF
Its Marsis radar sensor detected water in the form of underground ice deposits.
Its high-resolution stereo camera has mapped almost 90% of the planet’s surface.
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