European Space Agency Releases New Mosaic Of Mars To Mark 20 Years Of Orbiter Launch

The European Space Agency has released a new mosaic of Mars to mark 20 years of the launch of its Mars Express. The mosaic which was created using data from Mars Express's High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), reveals the planet's colour and composition in spectacular detail, the agency said.

''To mark 20 years of #MarsExpress, here's #Mars as never seen before. It's hard to take a bad picture of the #RedPlanet, but this one is truly wonderful. Mars Express has studied this fascinating world for two decades now – and counting,'' the picture was captioned by ESA Science,

See the image here:

To mark 20 years of #MarsExpress, here's #Mars as never seen before 🤯🔴

It's hard to take a bad picture of the #RedPlanet, but this one is truly wonderful. Mars Express has studied this fascinating world for two decades now – and counting!

More 👉 https://t.co/ds3u0Q5eLU pic.twitter.com/9v5nzkeAYs

— ESA Science (@esascience) June 2, 2023

''To view the planet more widely, HRSC gathered 90 images at higher altitudes (of 4000 to 10 000 km), thus capturing areas of around 2500 km wide. These images were then put together to form a full global view,'' the agency wrote.

The mosaic also provides fascinating information about Mars's composition, revealing an unprecedented variety and detail of colours across its surface.

While Mars is famous for its reddish colour, large parts of the planet appear to be rather dark and blue-toned in the mosaic. According to ESA, these are grey-black basaltic sands of volcanic origin that form far-reaching, dark layers of sand across Mars. They pile up as they move in the wind, creating imposing sand dunes and dune fields within impact craters.

Notably, Mars Express is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft that launched for Mars in 2003. The orbiter has been imaging Mars' surface, mapping its minerals, identifying the composition and circulation of its tenuous atmosphere, probing beneath its crust, and exploring how various phenomena interact in the Martian environment.

The mission has been extended until at least the end of 2026.