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Europe's Mars Express spacecraft has peered deeper into the subsurface of the Martian moon Phobos than ever before, finding hints of unknown structures that could be clues as to the moon's origin. Mars Express, which is a 19-year-veteran spacecraft in orbit around Mars, came within 51.6 miles (83 kilometers) of Phobos on Sept. 22, 2022 and was able to probe beneath the moon's surface using upgraded software on its MARSIS instrument (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding). Understanding the interior structure of Phobos could be key in solving the mystery of its origin. A close-up of the Martian...

This latest flyover video from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, provides a stunning view of one of Mars' most eye-popping craters. This movie was created using an imagery from Mars Express' High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The images are normally taken looking straight down (nadir), and the video combines topography information from the stereo channels of HRSC to generate a three-dimensional landscape, which was then recorded from different perspectives, as with a movie camera, to render the flight shown in the video. Korolev Crater is 82 kilometers (50 miles) across and at least 2 km (1.25 miles) deep....

There's a huge source of magnificent images of space, of Mars in particular, that are absolutely amazing but are not as readily seen by those of us here in the USA mostly because, I think, the sources are not American in origin. I, myself am guilty of the same sort of attitude in choosing not to patronize space imagery sources unless they are those provided by NASA. But as the stunning images of Mars provided below demonstrate, it is definitely something to reconsider. I chose the following images at random from the nearly 12,000 images available from the European Space...

Unlike, say, Mars's or Venus's, Earth's atmosphere was thought to be untouchable inside our protective magnetic field. But a new study says the sun is slowly "stealing" our atmosphere -- and at a greater rate than on Mars or Venus. Mars, for example, probably started out with a thick atmosphere similar to Earth's. But without a magnetic field to protect the Martian atmosphere, the solar wind -- actually a stream of charged particles from the sun -- has been eroding it away. Venus also lacks a magnetosphere and is being stripped of its atmospheric covering. Currently its rate of loss...

Brown University Snow is the source of glacial deposits found at the base of the majestic volcanoes and mountains dotting the mid-latitude and tropical regions of Mars. Based on an innovative blend of geological observations and climate modeling created by a team of American and French scientists, the finding appears in Science. Discovery of the source of the tropical glaciers ends a 30-year Martian mystery. In 1976, cameras aboard NASA’s Viking Mission to Mars captured unprecedented views of the canyons and craters of the Red Planet – including polar ice caps. Recent spacecraft data reveal curious rock-strewn deposits found at...

The second of three radar booms has been deployed on Europe's Mars Express spacecraft - but it is unclear whether the operation has been successful. The antennas are part of the Marsis instrument, which will look beneath the Red Planet's surface for what are expected to be vast reserves of water. If the deployment went smoothly, it should be possible for this search to begin within about a week. Marsis is able to see water up to 5km (3 miles) below the planet's surface. On Tuesday, mission controllers at the European Space Agency's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany, released the...

Published online: 04 November 2004; | doi:10.1038/news041101-14 Mars Express pictures action of glaciers Mark Peplow Orbiter snaps martian canyons, while failed Beagle team fights for another chance. Tithonium Chasma, looking east. The chasma is part of the Valles Marineris canyon system. The Mars Express spacecraft has returned stunning images of mountains and valleys that show signs of past volcanic activity, and suggest that glaciers once shaped the red planet's surface. Meanwhile, the craft's former travelling companion, the lander Beagle 2, is still making waves despite having made no contact with its handlers since separating from its mother ship on 19...

Edge of Huygens Crater Summary - (Oct 19, 2004) The European Space Agency's Mars Express took this image of the rim of impact crater Huygens, which is 450 km (280 miles) across. By counting craters in the area, researchers have determined that Huygens was blasted out approximately 4 billion years ago, early on in Mars' history when the planet was being heavily bombarded like the rest of the planets in the Solar System. The rim seems to show a tributary system that could have been water runoff in the ancient Martian past. Full Story - This image, taken by the...

Ammonia may have been found in Mars' atmosphere which some scientists say could indicate life on the Red Planet. Researchers say its spectral signature has been tentatively detected by sensors on board the European Space Agency's orbiting Mars Express craft.

<p>PASADENA, Calif. — The prospect of life on Mars has charged the public imagination for more than a century, ever since astronomers first spied what they thought were canals dug to irrigate the planet's ruddy surface.</p> <p>But after spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes began taking a closer look at the planet, evidence of the canals, and the Martians who presumably created them, quickly vanished.</p>

On the night of 3 July 2003, the Mars Express spacecraft was pointed backwards to obtain a view of the Earth-Moon system from a distance of 8 million kilometres while on its way to Mars. This image is the first picture of planetary objects obtained by the Mars Expressís High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). Although the spatial resolution is low at this great distance, the picture gives a good indication of what to expect from Mars Express in its orbit around Mars. At only 250-300 kilometres above Mars, the camera will obtain very high-resolution images, in brilliant colour and impressive...