A look at Mars from Mars Express

In the near-Martian orbit, the European satellite Mars Express continues its work for the thirteenth year. This device was launched in collaboration with Roscosmos - ours gave a rocket and put some scientific instruments, and the satellite was built by the European Space Agency. Mars Express flies in an elongated orbit, which allows it not only to map the surface, but also to take quite picturesque views from a great distance. Let's see a few shots today.

Mars Express has a large set of scientific instruments that allow it to study the atmosphere and geology of Mars, but the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), developed in Germany, creates the most impressive images.

All the results of Mars Express are posted in the public domainTherefore, not only professionals, but also enthusiasts can work with them. For example, this gorgeous panorama was created by space exploration enthusiast Justin Cowart.



In the lower part of the frame you can see the tortilla of the largest volcano in the solar system - Olympus. A little further - three volcanoes: Arsia, Mount Askariyskaya and Mount Peacock. Near the horizon is the Labyrinth of Night and the western branches of the Mariner Valley.

The survey was taken during calm weather, when the atmosphere is clean from dust. Thanks to this, the scattering of sunlight is visible, which colors the atmosphere near the horizon in blue.

HRSC camera uses multispectral (multi-channel) shooting technology, i.e. Its sensors cover not only the visible range of light, but also near infrared. And creating color images, you can alternate different channels, getting not only a natural color but also a "false", which allows you to better know the geological structure.

For example, this color photo of the South Pole is collected from frames in three spectral ranges: blue, green and near infrared, so the color does not match what our eyes would see. In the visible range, Mars rust is closer to orange or pink, not burgundy. The reddish color of Mars is due to an admixture of iron oxides in its dust, covering almost the entire surface.



The main composition of the polar caps of Mars is water ice. At the South Pole, its thickness reaches 3.5 km, at the North Pole - 1.7 km. Carbon dioxide ice poles are covered only in winter, and the thickness of dry ice is 1-2 meters, rarely more. In this photo we see mainly water ice.

Pay attention to the geometrically correct structures in the lower left corner of the panorama. This site is officially called Inca City - the "Inca city". However, the formation of this structure is not associated with the Incas, nor with the Martians, but arose when a large meteorite affected the ice cap of Mars.

And this panorama is already in natural colors - this is a winter view of the North Pole of Mars



In the upper part of the panorama we see a perennial polar cap consisting of water ice. In the middle part - fields of black dunes, which are believed to have once been the bottom of the Arctic Ocean of Mars. Even lower is the surface of Mars, covered with a thin layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice.

Pay attention to the steep cliffs of the polar cap, which reveal its layered structure. Look at the thin icing covering the subpolar region. Look at the rounded halos at the craters that arose when meteorites thawed frozen ground water, dirt spread around the boat, but quickly froze.

In March 2016, another joint research vehicle ExoMars is due to go to Mars. I hope he will delight us with no less impressive landscapes, and will expand our knowledge of the structure and evolution of Mars. I’ll tell you more about him.

This post is based on materials from planetary.org and the Best of Mars community .