Mars Express - Wikipedia

Mars Express - Wikipedia
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European orbiter mission to Mars (2003–present)
This article is about the space exploration mission. For the film, see
Mars Express (film)
Mars Express
CG image of
Mars Express
arriving at Mars
Mission type
Mars
orbiter
Operator
ESA
COSPAR ID
2003-022A
SATCAT
no.
27816
Website
exploration
.esa
.int
/mars
Mission duration
Elapsed:
22 years, 10 months and 21 days since launch
22 years, 3 months and 29 days at Mars
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass
1,123 kg
Dry mass
666 kg (1,468 lb)
Power
460 watts
Start of mission
Launch date
June 2, 2003, 17:45
2003-06-02UTC17:45Z
UTC
Rocket
Soyuz-FG
Fregat
Launch site
Baikonur
31/6
Contractor
Starsem
Orbital parameters
Reference system
Areocentric
Eccentricity
0.571
Periareion altitude
298 km (185 mi)
Apoareion altitude
10,107 km (6,280 mi)
Inclination
86.3 degrees
Period
7.5 hours
Mars
orbiter
Spacecraft component
Mars Express
Orbital insertion
December 25, 2003, 03:00 UTC
MSD
46206 08:27
AMT
Mars
lander
Spacecraft component
Beagle 2
Landing date
December 25, 2003, 02:54 UTC
Instruments
HRSC
High Resolution Stereo Camera
OMEGA
Visible and Infrared Mineralogical, Mapping Spectrometer
MARSIS
Sub-surface Sounding Radar Altimeter
PFS
Planetary Fourier Spectrometer
SPICAM
Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer
ASPERA
Energetic Neutral Atoms Analyser
MaRS
Mars Radio Science Experiment
VMC
Visual Monitoring Camera
ESA insignia (2020s)
Mars Express
is a
space exploration
mission by the
European Space Agency (ESA)
exploring the planet
Mars
and its moons since 2003, and the first planetary mission attempted by ESA.
Mars Express
consisted of two parts, the
Mars Express Orbiter
and
Beagle 2
lander
designed to perform
exobiology
and geochemistry research. Although the lander failed to fully deploy after it landed on the Martian surface, the orbiter has been successfully performing scientific measurements since early 2004, namely,
high-resolution
imaging and mineralogical mapping of the surface, radar sounding of the subsurface structure down to the permafrost, precise determination of the
atmospheric circulation
and composition, and study of the interaction of the
atmosphere
with the
interplanetary medium
Due to the valuable science return and the highly flexible mission profile,
Mars Express
has been granted several mission extensions. The latest was approved on March 7, 2023, consisting of a confirmed operating period until December 31, 2026, and a further provisional extension to December 31, 2028.
Arriving at Mars in 2003, 22 years, 3 months and 29 days ago (and counting), it is the second longest surviving, continually active spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth, behind only NASA's still active
2001 Mars Odyssey
Name
edit
"Express" in the name originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the
spacecraft
was designed and built.
However, "Express" also describes the spacecraft's relatively short interplanetary voyage, a result of being launched when the orbits of Earth and Mars brought them closer than they had been in about 60,000 years.
Background
edit
The
Mars Express
mission is dedicated to the study of the interior, subsurface, surface, atmosphere, and environment of the planet Mars. The spacecraft carried seven scientific instruments, a small lander, a lander relay, and a
Visual Monitoring Camera
, all designed to contribute to solving the
mystery of Mars's missing water
Some of the instruments on the orbiter, including the camera systems and some
spectrometers
, reuse designs from the failed launch of the Russian
Mars 96
mission in 1996
(European countries had provided much of the instrumentation and financing for that unsuccessful mission). The scientific objectives of the
Mars Express
represent an attempt to fulfill in part the lost scientific goals of this failed Russian mission, complemented by exobiology research with Beagle-2.
The design of
Mars Express
is based on ESA's
Rosetta
mission
, on which a considerable sum was spent on development. The same design was also used for ESA's
Venus Express
mission in order to increase reliability and reduce development cost and time.
The total initial
Mars Express
budget excluding the lander was
150 million.
10
The prime contractor for the construction of
Mars Express
orbiter was
EADS Astrium Satellites
Orbiter and subsystems
edit
Structure
edit
The
Mars Express
orbiter is a cube-shaped spacecraft with two
solar panel
wings extending from opposite sides. The launch mass of 1223 kg includes a main bus with 113 kg of payload, the 60 kg lander, and 457 kg of propellant. The main body is 1.5 m × 1.8 m × 1.4 m in size, with an aluminium honeycomb structure covered by an aluminium skin. The solar panels measure about 12 m tip-to-tip. Two 20 m long wire
dipole antennas
extend from opposite side faces perpendicular to the solar panels as part of the radar sounder.
11
Propulsion
edit
The
Soyuz/Fregat
launcher provided most of the thrust
Mars Express
needed to reach Mars. The final stage of the Soyuz,
Fregat
was jettisoned once the probe was safely on a course for Mars. The spacecraft's on-board means of propulsion was used to slow the probe for Mars orbit insertion and subsequently for orbit corrections.
11
The body is built around the main propulsion system, which consists of a
bipropellant
400
main engine. The two 267-liter propellant tanks have a total capacity of 595 kg. Approximately 370 kg are needed for the nominal mission. Pressurized helium from a 35-liter tank is used to force fuel into the engine. Trajectory corrections will be made using a set of eight 10 N thrusters, one attached to each corner of the spacecraft bus. The spacecraft configuration is optimized for a Soyuz/Fregat, and was fully compatible with a
Delta II
launch vehicle.
Power
edit
Spacecraft power is provided by the solar panels which contain 11.42 square meters of silicon cells. The originally planned power was to be 660
at 1.5
AU
but a faulty connection has reduced the amount of power available by 30%, to about 460
W. This loss of power does not significantly affect the science return of the mission. Power is stored in three
lithium-ion batteries
with a total capacity of 64.8
Ah for use during eclipses. The power is fully regulated at 28
, and the
Terma
power module (also used in
Rosetta
) is redundant.
12
13
During routine phase, the spacecraft's power consumption is in the range of 450–550
W.
14
Attitude control - avionics
edit
Attitude control (3-axis stabilization) is achieved using two 3-axis inertial measurement units, a set of two
star cameras
and two
Sun sensors
gyroscopes
accelerometers
, and four 12 N·m·s
reaction wheels
. Pointing accuracy is 0.04 degree with respect to the inertial reference frame and 0.8 degree with respect to the Mars orbital frame. Three on-board systems help
Mars Express
maintain a very precise pointing accuracy, which is essential to allow the spacecraft to use some of the science instruments.
Communications
edit
The communications subsystem is composed of three antennas: A 1.6 m diameter parabolic dish
high-gain antenna
and two omnidirectional antennas. The first one provide links (telecommands uplink and telemetry downlink) in both
X-band
(8.4 GHz) and
S-band
(2.1 GHz) and is used during nominal science phase around Mars. The low gain antennas are used during launch and early operations to Mars and for eventual contingencies once in orbit. Two Mars lander relay UHF antennas are mounted on the top face for communication with the
Beagle 2
or other landers, using a Melacom transceiver.
15
Earth stations
edit
Although communications with Earth were originally scheduled to take place with the ESA 35-meter wide Ground Station in New Norcia (Australia)
New Norcia Station
, the mission profile of progressive enhancement and science return flexibility have triggered the use of the ESA
ESTRACK
Ground Stations in
Cebreros Station
Madrid
, Spain and
Malargüe Station
Argentina
. In addition, further agreements with NASA
Deep Space Network
have made possible the use of American stations for nominal mission planning, thus increasing complexity but with a clear positive impact in scientific returns. This inter-agency cooperation has proven effective, flexible and enriching for both sides. On the technical side, it has been made possible (among other reasons) thanks to the adoption of both Agencies of the Standards for Space Communications defined in
CCSDS
Thermal
edit
Thermal control is maintained through the use of radiators,
multi-layer insulation
, and actively controlled heaters. The spacecraft must provide a benign environment for the instruments and on-board equipment. Two instruments, PFS and OMEGA, have infrared detectors that need to be kept at very low temperatures (about −180 °C). The sensors on the camera (HRSC) also need to be kept cool. But the rest of the instruments and on-board equipment function best at room temperatures (10–20 °C).
The spacecraft is covered in gold-plated aluminium-tin alloy thermal blankets to maintain a temperature of 10–20 °C inside the spacecraft. The instruments that operate at low temperatures to be kept cold are thermally insulated from this relatively high internal temperature, and emit excess heat into space using attached radiators.
11
Control unit and data storage
edit
The spacecraft is run by two Control and Data management Units with 12 gigabits
11
of solid state mass memory for storage of data and housekeeping information for transmission. The on-board computers control all aspects of the spacecraft functioning including switching instruments on and off, assessing the spacecraft orientation in space and issuing commands to change it.
Another key aspect of the
Mars Express
mission is its
artificial intelligence
tool (MEXAR2).
16
The primary purpose of the AI tool is the scheduling of when to download various parts of the collected scientific data back to Earth, a process which used to take ground controllers a significant amount of time. The new AI tool saves operator time, optimizes
bandwidth
use on the
DSN
, prevents data loss, and allows better use of the DSN for other space operations as well. The AI decides how to manage the spacecraft's 12 gigabits of storage memory, when the DSN will be available and not be in use by another mission, how to make the best use of the DSN bandwidth allocated to it, and when the spacecraft will be oriented properly to transmit back to Earth.
16
17
Lander
edit
A replica of the
Beagle 2
lander component of
Mars Express
at the
Science Museum, London
The
Beagle 2
lander objectives were to characterize the landing site geology, mineralogy, and geochemistry, the physical properties of the atmosphere and surface layers, collect data on Martian meteorology and climatology, and search for possible signatures of
life on Mars
. However, the landing attempt was unsuccessful and the lander was declared lost.
A Commission of Inquiry on
Beagle 2
identified several possible causes, including airbag problems, severe shocks to the lander's electronics which had not been simulated adequately before launch, and problems with parts of the landing system colliding; but was unable to reach any firm conclusions.
18
The spacecraft's fate remained a mystery until it was announced in January 2015 that NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
, using
HiRISE
, had found the probe intact on the surface of Mars.
19
20
It was then determined that one of the spacecraft's four solar panels may have only partially opened, possibly blocking the spacecraft's communications.
21
Beagle 2
was the first British and first European probe to achieve a landing on Mars.
Scientific instruments
edit
The scientific objectives of the
Mars Express
payload are to obtain global high-resolution photo-geology (10 m resolution), mineralogical mapping (100 m resolution) and mapping of the atmospheric composition, study the subsurface structure, the global atmospheric circulation, and the interaction between the atmosphere and the subsurface, and the atmosphere and the interplanetary medium. The total mass budgeted for the science payload is 116 kg.
22
The payload scientific instruments are:
23
Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer (OMEGA) (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité) – France – Determines mineral composition of the surface up to 100 m resolution. Is mounted inside pointing out the top face.
24
Instrument mass: 28.6 kg
25
Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer (SPICAM) – France – Assesses elemental composition of the atmosphere. Is mounted inside pointing out the top face. Instrument mass: 4.7 kg
25
Sub-Surface Sounding Radar Altimeter (
MARSIS
) – Italy – A radar
altimeter
used to assess composition of sub-surface aimed at search for frozen water. Is mounted in the body and is nadir pointing, and also incorporates the two 20 m antennas. Instrument mass: 13.7 kg
25
Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (
PFS
) – Italy – Makes observations of atmospheric temperature and pressure (observations suspended in September 2005). Is mounted inside pointing out the top face
26
and is currently working. Instrument mass: 30.8 kg
25
Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA) – Sweden – Investigates interactions between upper atmosphere and solar wind. Is mounted on the top face. Instrument mass: 7.9 kg
25
High Resolution Stereo Camera
(HRSC) – Germany – Produces color images with up to 2 m resolution. Is mounted inside the spacecraft body, aimed through the top face of the spacecraft, which is nadir pointing during Mars operations. Instrument mass: 20.4 kg
25
Mars Express Lander Communications (MELACOM) – UK – Allows
Mars Express
to act as a communication relay for landers on the Martian surface. (Has been used on both
Mars Exploration Rovers
, and was used to support the landing of NASA's
Phoenix
mission)
Mars Radio Science Experiment (MaRS) – Uses radio signals to investigate atmosphere, surface, subsurface, gravity and solar corona density during solar conjunctions. It uses the communications subsystem itself.
Visual Monitoring Camera
, a small camera to monitor the lander ejection.
Operations of the spacecraft
edit
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Operations for
Mars Express
are carried out by a multinational team of engineers from ESA's Operation Centre (
ESOC
) in
Darmstadt
. The team began preparations for the mission about 3 to 4 years prior to the actual launch. This involved preparing the ground segment and the operational procedures for the whole mission.
The Mission Control Team is composed of the Flight Control Team, Flight Dynamics Team, Ground Operations Managers, Software Support and Ground Facilities Engineers. All of these are located at ESOC but there are additionally external teams, such as the Project and Industry Support teams, who designed and built the spacecraft. The Flight Control Team currently consists of:
The Spacecraft Operations Manager
Six Operations Engineers (including three Mission Planners)
One Spacecraft Analyst
Six spacecraft controllers (SpaCons), shared with
ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter
BepiColombo
, and
Solar Orbiter
The team build-up, headed by the Spacecraft Operations Manager, started about four years before launch. He was required to recruit a suitable team of engineers that could handle the varying tasks involved in the mission. For
Mars Express
the engineers came from various other missions. Most of them had been involved with Earth orbiting satellites.
Mission timeline
edit
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verification
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Mission preparation
edit
In the years preceding the launch of a spacecraft numerous teams of experts distributed over the contributing companies and organisations prepared the space and ground segments. Each of these teams focussed on the area of its responsibility and interfacing as required. A major additional requirement raised for the Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) and all critical operational phases was that it was not enough merely to interface; the teams had to be integrated into one Mission Control Team. All the different experts had to work together in an operational environment and the interaction and interfaces between all elements of the system (software, hardware and human) had to run smoothly for this to happen:
the flight operations procedures had to be written and validated down to the smallest detail
the
control system
had to be validated
system Validation Tests (SVTs) with the satellite had to be performed to demonstrate the correct interfacing of the ground and space segments
mission Readiness Test with the
Ground Stations
had to be performed
a Simulations Campaign was run
Launch
edit
Animation of Mars Express's trajectory around Sun
Mars Express
Sun
Earth
Mars
The spacecraft was launched on June 2, 2003, at 23:45 local time (17:45 UT, 1:45 p.m. EDT) from
Baikonur Cosmodrome
in
Kazakhstan
, using a
Soyuz-FG
Fregat
rocket. The
Mars Express
and Fregat booster were initially put into a 200 km Earth
parking orbit
, then the Fregat was fired again at 19:14 UT to put the spacecraft into a Mars transfer orbit. The Fregat and
Mars Express
separated at approximately 19:17 UT. The
solar panels
were then deployed and a trajectory correction manoeuvre was performed on June 4 to aim
Mars Express
towards Mars and allow the Fregat booster to coast into interplanetary space. The
Mars Express
was the first Russian-launched probe to successfully make it out of low Earth orbit since the Soviet Union fell.
Near Earth commissioning phase
edit
The Near Earth commissioning phase extended from the separation of the spacecraft from the launcher upper stage until the completion of the initial check out of the orbiter and payload. It included the solar array deployment, the initial attitude acquisition, the declamping of the Beagle-2 spin-up mechanism, the injection error correction manoeuvre and the first commissioning of the spacecraft and payload (final commissioning of payload took place after Mars Orbit Insertion). The payload was checked out one instrument at a time. This phase lasted about one month.
The interplanetary cruise phase
edit
This five month phase lasted from the end of the Near Earth Commissioning phase until one month prior to the Mars capture manoeuvre and included trajectory correction manoeuvres and payloads calibration. The payload was mostly switched off during the cruise phase, with the exception of some intermediate check-outs. Although it was originally meant to be a "quiet cruise" phase, It soon became obvious that this "cruise" would be indeed very busy. There were
star tracker
problems, a power wiring problem, extra manoeuvres, and on October 28, the spacecraft was hit by one of the largest
solar flares
ever recorded.
Beagle 2
after separation
Lander jettison
edit
The
Beagle 2
lander was released on December 19, 2003, at 8:31 UTC (9:31 CET) on a
ballistic
cruise towards the surface. It entered Mars's atmosphere on the morning of December 25. Landing was expected to occur at about 02:45 UT on December 25 (9:45 p.m. EST December 24). However, after repeated attempts to contact the lander failed using the
Mars Express
craft and the
NASA
Mars Odyssey
orbiter, it was declared lost on February 6, 2004, by the Beagle 2 management board. An inquiry was held and its findings were published later that year.
18
Orbit insertion
edit
Mars Express
's
trajectory around
Mars
from December 25, 2003, to January 1, 2010
Mars Express
Mars
MARSIS
antenna deployed
Mars Express
arrived at Mars after a 400 million km journey and course corrections in September and in December 2003.
On December 20
Mars Express
fired a short thruster burst to put it into position to orbit the planet. The
Mars Express
orbiter then fired its main engine and went into a highly elliptical initial-capture orbit of 250 km × 150,000 km with an inclination of 25 degrees on December 25 at 03:00 UT (10:00 p.m., December 24 EST).
First evaluation of the orbital insertion showed that the orbiter had reached its first milestone at Mars. The orbit was later adjusted by four more main engine firings to the desired 259 km × 11,560 km near-polar (86 degree inclination) orbit with a period of 7.5 hours. Near
periapsis
(nearest to Mars) the top deck is pointed down towards the Martian surface and near
apoapsis
(farthest from Mars in its orbit) the high gain antenna will be pointed towards Earth for uplink and downlink.
After 100 days the apoapsis was lowered to 10,107 km and periapsis raised to 298 km to give an orbital period of 6.7 hours.
The
MARSIS
radar booms were originally scheduled to be deployed in April 2004, but this was delayed to 2005 out of fear that the deployment could damage the spacecraft through a whiplash effect.
27
Routine phase: science return
edit
Since orbit insertion
Mars Express
has been progressively fulfilling its original scientific goals. Nominal science observations began during July 2005. Nominally the spacecraft points to Mars while acquiring science and then slews to Earth-pointing to downlink the data, although some instruments like
MARSIS
or Radio Science might be operated while spacecraft is Earth-pointing.
Timeline of notable discoveries and events
edit
Image of
Mars Express
in orbit, by
MGS
Expected appearance
For more than 20,000 orbits,
Mars Express
payload instruments have been nominally and regularly operated. The
HRSC camera
has been consistently mapping the Martian surface with unprecedented resolution and has acquired many images.
First decade
edit
Valles Marineris
, 2004
2004
edit
January 23: ESA announced the discovery of water ice in the south polar ice cap, using data collected by the OMEGA instrument.
January 28:
Mars Express
orbiter reaches final science orbit altitude around Mars.
March 17: Orbiter detects polar ice caps that contain 85%
carbon dioxide
(CO
) ice and 15% water ice.
28
March 30: A press release announces that the orbiter has detected
methane in the Martian atmosphere
. Although the amount is small, about 10 parts in a thousand million, it has excited scientists to question its source. Since methane is removed from the Martian atmosphere very rapidly, there must be a current source that replenishes it. Because one of the possible sources could be microbial life, it is planned to verify the reliability of these data and especially watch for difference in the concentration in various places on Mars. It is hoped that the source of this gas can be discovered by finding its location of release.
29
April 28: ESA announced that the deployment of the boom carrying the radar-based MARSIS antenna was delayed. It described concerns with the motion of the boom during deployment, which can cause the spacecraft to be struck by elements of it. Further investigations are planned to make sure that this will not happen.
July 15: Scientists working with the PFS instrument announced that they tentatively discovered the spectral features of the compound
ammonia
in the Martian atmosphere. Just like methane discovered earlier (see above), ammonia breaks down rapidly in Mars's atmosphere and needs to be constantly replenished. This points towards the existence of active life or geological activity; two contending phenomena whose presence so far have remained undetected.
30
2005
edit
Louth crater
, February 2005
In 2005,
ESA
scientists reported that the OMEGA instrument data indicates the presence of hydrated sulphates, silicates and various rock-forming minerals.
31
32
February 8: The delayed deployment of the MARSIS antenna, planned for early May 2005, has been given a green light by ESA.
27
May 5: The first boom of the MARSIS antenna was successfully deployed.
33
At first, there was no indication of any problems, but later it was discovered that one segment of the boom did not lock.
34
The deployment of the second boom was delayed to allow for further analysis of the problem.
May 11: Using the
Sun
's heat to expand the segments of the MARSIS antenna, the last segment locked in successfully.
35
June 14: The second boom was deployed, and on June 16 ESA announced it was a success.
36
June 22: ESA announces that MARSIS is fully operational and will soon begin acquiring data. This comes after the deployment of the third boom on June 17, and a successful transmission test on June 19.
37
2006
edit
Dust Storm, North Polar Cap, processed by Andrea Luck
'Face on Mars' in
Cydonia
region, 2006
September 21: The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has obtained images of the
Cydonia region
, the location of the famous "
Face on Mars
". The massif became famous in a photo taken in 1976 by the American
Viking 1
Orbiter. The image recorded with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel.
38
September 26: The
Mars Express
spacecraft emerged from an unusually demanding eclipse introducing a special, ultra-low-power mode nicknamed 'Sumo' – an innovative configuration aimed at saving the power necessary to ensure spacecraft survival. This mode was developed through teamwork between ESOC mission controllers, principal investigators, industry, and mission management.
39
October: In October 2006 the
Mars Express
spacecraft encountered a superior solar conjunction (alignment of Earth-Sun-Mars-orbiter). The angle Sun-Earth-orbiter reached a minimum on October 23 at 0.39° at a distance of 2.66
AU
. Operational measures were undertaken to minimize the impact of the link degradation, since the higher density of electrons in the solar plasma heavily impacts the radio frequency signal.
40
December: Following the loss of NASA's
Mars Global Surveyor
(MGS),
Mars Express
team was requested to perform actions in the hopes of visually identifying the American spacecraft. Based on last
ephemeris
of MGS provided by JPL, the on-board high definition HRSC camera swept a region of the MGS orbit. Two attempts were made to find the craft, both unsuccessful.
2007
edit
Phobos
over Mars, 2007
January: First agreements with NASA undertaken for the support by
Mars Express
on the landing of the American lander
Phoenix
in May 2008.
February: The small camera VMC (used only once to monitor the lander ejection) was recommissioned and first steps were taken to offer students the possibility to participate in a campaign "Command Mars Express Spacecraft and take your own picture of Mars".
February 23: As result of the science return, the Science Program Committee (SPC) granted a mission extension until May 2009.
41
June 28: The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has produced images of key tectonic features in
Aeolis Mensae
42
2008
edit
In March 2008, the
Mars Express
Team was the winner of the
Sir Arthur Clarke Award
for Best Team Achievement.
43
During a
Phobos
flyby on 23 July 2008,
Mars Express
observed backscattering of
solar wind
protons at Phobos, a process previously reported at the Earth's
Moon
, suggesting that it is common at airless bodies covered by
regolith
44
The next such observation occurred in January 2016.
45
2009
edit
February 4: The ESA's Science Programme Committee has extended the operations of
Mars Express
until December 31, 2009.
46
October 7: ESA's Science Programme Committee has approved the extension of mission operations for
Mars Express
until December 31, 2012.
47
2010
edit
Orcus Patera
by
HRSC
, 2010
Phobos
, taken on 7 March 2010
March 5: Flyby of
Phobos
to measure Phobos's gravity.
48
2011
edit
August 13: Safe mode following a Solid-State Mass Memory problem.
49
August 23: Solid-State Mass Memory problem.
49
September 23: Safe mode following a Solid-State Mass Memory problem.
49
October 11: Solid-State Mass Memory problem.
49
October 16: Safe mode following a Solid-State Mass Memory problem.
49
November 24: Science operations are resumed using the Short Mission Timeline and Command Files instead of the Long Time Line resident on the suspect Solid-State Mass Memory.
50
2012
edit
February 16: Resumes full science operations. There is still enough fuel for up to 14 additional years of operation.
51
In March 2012, a paper was published in
JGR Planets
documenting the first detection of a faint infrared glow above the winter poles of Mars. This discovery was based on
Mars Express
's
OMEGA observations from 2004, 2005, and 2006.
52
53
July: Solar corona studied with radio waves.
54
August 5/6: Assisted US probes
Mars Odyssey
and
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
in data collection and transfer on the
Mars Science Laboratory
landing.
2013
edit
Mars Express
produced a near-complete topographical map of Mars's surface.
55
On 29 December,
Mars Express
performed the closest flyby to date of
Phobos
56
57
Second decade
edit
2014
edit
Rabe crater
, 2014
In October 2014, ESA reported
Mars Express
was healthy after the
Comet Siding Spring
flyby of Mars on 19 October
58
— as were all NASA Mars orbiters
59
and
ISRO's
orbiter, the
Mars Orbiter Mission
60
2015
edit
South pole of Mars, 2015
January:
Beagle 2
found by
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
19
21
2016
edit
During a
Phobos
flyby in January 2016,
Mars Express
again observed
solar wind
proton backscattering from the moon's surface. This was only second such observation by the spacecraft (first occurred in 2008) and, as of 2025, this intermittency remains unexplained.
61
62
October 19: Assisted with data collection and transfer for the
Schiaparelli EDM lander
landing.
2017
edit
On 19 June, the spacecraft took a notable image spanning from the North Pole up to
Alba Mons
and even farther south.
63
The image was released in December 20, 2017, and was captured by HRSC.
63
64
2018
edit
Elongated cloud on Mars, 2018
65
Mars dust storm, 2018
South Pole
with
subglacial water
, 2018
Activated new AOCMS software which includes a gyroless attitude estimator to prolong the lifetime of the spacecraft's laser gyros
66
In July 2018, a discovery was reported based on MARSIS
radar
studies, of a
subglacial lake
on
Mars
, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) below the
southern polar ice cap
, and about 20 km (12 mi) wide, the first known stable body of water on Mars.
67
68
69
70
December 2018:
Mars Express
relays images of the 80-kilometer wide
Korolev Crater
filled with approximately 2200 cubic kilometers of water ice on the Martian surface.
71
Based on further evidence the crater ice is still part of much vaster ice resources at Mars poles.
72
2019
edit
Based on data from the HRSC camera, there is geological evidence of an ancient planet-wide groundwater system.
73
74
2020
edit
Between March and April 2020,
Mars Express
(along with other interplanetary missions by ESA) was briefly placed into a largely unattended safe configuration with science instruments turned off due to the worsening
COVID-19 pandemic
and the need to reduce on-site personnel at
ESOC
75
76
In September 2020, a discovery was reported based on MARSIS radar studies, of
three more subglacial lakes
on Mars, 1.5 km (0.93 mi) below the
southern polar ice cap
. The size of the first lake found, and the largest, has been corrected to 30 km (19 mi) wide. It is surrounded by 3 smaller lakes, each a few kilometres wide.
77
A study published in December 2020 in
JGR Planets
utilized the wide field of view of the
Visual Monitoring Camera
, in combination with other instruments on
Mars Express
and other orbiters, to describe the life cycle of a large elongated
orographic cloud
that grows and fades on a daily basis during spring and summer over
Arsia Mons
78
79
A follow-up study published in 2022 used
computational modeling
to describe the physical mechanisms behind the cloud's formation.
80
2021
edit
Two studies published in December 2020
81
and January 2021,
82
that analyzed SPICAM data, show that water escape to space is accelerated by dust storms and Mars's proximity to the Sun, and suggest that some water may have retreated underground.
83
A study published in April 2021, that used SPICAM data to analyze the relationship between ozone and water vapour in the atmosphere of Mars, identified a previously unknown problem with climate models, that might be relevant also to studying the Earth's atmosphere.
84
85
In November 2021, an experiment was performed to test whether
Mars Express
and the
TGO
lander relay communications radio could be used to perform
radio occultation
science,
86
as well as a series of tests of data relay from the CNSA
Zhurong
rover
87
2022
edit
Olympus Mons
HRSC
image
In February 2022, a study was published in
Earth and Planetary Science Letters
demonstrating that liquid brines (water with
perchlorate
and
chloride
) are the best explanation for the
MARSIS
observations from 2018 interpreted as liquid water under the South pole of Mars. Such brines might not form actual underground lakes but could exist between grains of ice or sediment.
88
89
On 14 February 2022,
Mars Express
observed a rare astronomical event —
Deimos
passing in front of Jupiter and its
Galilean moons
. Measuring the duration of the occultation enabled a more precise determination of the position and orbit of Deimos.
90
In June 2022, an upgrade of the
MARSIS
instrument software was completed. The new version improved the performance of the instrument to push its performance beyond some of the old limitations.
91
92
On 23 September 2022,
Mars Express
conducted a close flyby of
Phobos
and used the
MARSIS
instrument to probe the moon's subsurface structure from as close as 83 km. Operating MARSIS at such close distance was enabled by the recent software upgrade. The instrument was originally designed for studying Mars – at more than 250 km from the spacecraft.
93
In November 2022,
Mars Express
performed data relay tests with NASA
Perseverance
rover, bringing the total number of other spacecraft supported by
Mars Express
in this way up to a record-breaking seven.
94
2023
edit
Occultation
of
Deimos
by
Phobos
in 2023, by Andrea Luck
In January 2023, the first global high-resolution map of aqueous minerals (formed through interaction with water) at Mars was published using data from
Mars Express
's
OMEGA and
MRO
's CRISM instruments.
95
96
June 3: To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the spacecraft's launch, a
livestream
of images from the
Visual Monitoring Camera
was streamed online, marking the first livestream direct from Mars.
97
Third decade
edit
2024
edit
Frost on
Olympus Mons
Mars Express
and
TGO
probe
Mars's atmosphere
by
radio occultation
Published in January 2024, a new research analysed
MARSIS
radar data collected over the preceding decade and concluded that the
Medusae Fossae Formation
at Mars equator, previously thought to be likely composed of dry deposits, instead includes a large amount of water ice.
98
99
In May 2024, computers on
Mars Express
(as well as on another ESA mission,
BepiColombo
) reported a sharp increase in the number of memory errors, coinciding with a massive
solar flare
from the active region
AR3664
, at that time facing away from Earth. The event was also observed in detail by ESA's
Solar Orbiter
100
During
May 2024 solar storms
Mars Express
and
TGO
were performing
radio occultation
experiments and managed to measure the response of the
Martian atmosphere
to the solar storm. The two orbiters observed a dramatic increase in
electrons
in two distinct layers of the atmosphere with a 45% increase in 110 km above surface and a 278% increase in 130 km.
101
102
103
In June 2024, a new study was published in
Nature Geoscience
, providing first evidence for water frost near Mars equator, specifically atop the
Tharsis
volcanoes. This work used data from ESA's
Mars Express
and
TGO
missions.
104
105
In July 2024, a study was published in
Radio Science
documenting the first routine use of mutual
radio occultation
technique at another planet, specifically the measurements of physical properties of the
Martian atmosphere
conducted using a radio link between ESA's
Mars Express
and
TGO
orbiters between 2020 and 2023.
106
107
In September 2024, a new cloud atlas of Mars has been published, containing images of Martian clouds by
Mars Express
from the past 20 years.
108
109
2025
edit
How Mars turned red
Tracking
dust devils on Mars
In February 2025, a study was published in
Nature Communications
suggesting that the red color of Mars is caused by iron oxides containing water, known as
ferrihydrite
, and not by
hematite
that forms under dry conditions, as thought before. This work used data from
Mars Express
and other spacecraft.
110
111
In May 2025, ESA updated the software solution from 2018 which was meant to prolong the lifetime of the spacecraft's gyroscopes. This new update could allow
Mars Express
to stay operational until 2034 and be ready to support the
MMX spacecraft
in 2029.
112
In June 2025, a comprehensive data set from
Mars Express
TGO
radio occultation
observations has been made publicly available with a publication of a new study in
JGR Planets
analysing 71 full vertical profiles from such observations.
113
114
In September 2025, scientists presented a method for predicting the green visible light
aurora on Mars
, which they developed using data from
Mars Express
MAVEN
, and
Perseverance
115
116
In October 2025, scientists published a catalogue of 1039
Martian dust devils
observed by
Mars Express
and
TGO
during past two decades. Their analyses show near-surface wind speeds of up to 44 m/s, faster than ever observed by surface probes.
117
118
119
See also
edit
List of European Space Agency programmes and missions
European Space Agency
ExoMars
Exploration of Mars
List of Mars orbiters
List of missions to Mars
Space exploration
Uncrewed space mission
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June 1,
2025
"New water map of Mars will prove invaluable for future exploration"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Carter, John; Riu, Lucie; Poulet, François; Bibring, Jean-Pierre; Langevin, Yves; Gondet, Brigitte (2023).
"A Mars orbital catalog of aqueous alteration signatures (MOCAAS)"
Icarus
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Bibcode
2023Icar..38915164C
doi
10.1016/j.icarus.2022.115164
"Tune in for first Mars livestream"
. Retrieved
June 2,
2023
"Buried water ice at Mars's equator?"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Watters, Thomas R.; Campbell, Bruce A.; Leuschen, Carl J.; Morgan, Gareth A.; Cicchetti, Andrea; Orosei, Roberto; Plaut, Jeffrey J. (2024).
"Evidence of Ice-Rich Layered Deposits in the Medusae Fossae Formation of Mars"
Geophysical Research Letters
51
(2) e2023GL105490.
Bibcode
2024GeoRL..5105490W
doi
10.1029/2023GL105490
ISSN
1944-8007
"Can't stop won't stop: Solar Orbiter shows the Sun raging on"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Williams, Matthew.
"ESA's Mars orbiters watch solar superstorm hit the Red Planet"
Universe Today
. Retrieved
March 12,
2026
"ESA's Mars orbiters watch solar superstorm hit the Red Planet"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
March 6,
2026
Parrott, Jacob; Sánchez-Cano, Beatriz; Svedhem, Håkan; Witasse, Olivier; Meggi, Dikshita; Wilson, Colin; Cardesín-Moinelo, Alejandro; Müller-Wodarg, Ingo (March 5, 2026).
"Martian ionospheric response during the may 2024 solar superstorm"
Nature Communications
17
(1): 2017.
doi
10.1038/s41467-026-69468-z
ISSN
2041-1723
"Surprising Discovery of Frost on Martian Volcanoes Near Equator – "Thought Impossible"
SciTechDaily
. July 1, 2024
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Valantinas, A.; Thomas, N.; Pommerol, A.; Karatekin, O.; Ruiz Lozano, L.; Senel, C. B.; Temel, O.; Hauber, E.; Tirsch, D.; Bickel, V. T.; Munaretto, G.; Pajola, M.; Oliva, F.; Schmidt, F.; Thomas, I. (2024).
"Evidence for transient morning water frost deposits on the Tharsis volcanoes of Mars"
Nature Geoscience
17
(7):
608–
616.
Bibcode
2024NatGe..17..608V
doi
10.1038/s41561-024-01457-7
hdl
10261/371022
ISSN
1752-0908
Dunning, Hayley; London, Imperial College.
"Repurposed technology used to probe new regions of Mars' atmosphere"
phys.org
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May 18,
2025
Parrott, Jacob; Svedhem, Håkan; Witasse, Olivier; Wilson, Colin; Müller-Wodarg, Ingo; Cardesín-Moinelo, Alejandro; Schmitz, Peter; Godfrey, James; Reboud, Olivier; Geiger, Bernhard; Sánchez-Cano, Beatriz; Nava, Bruno; Migoya-Orué, Yenca (2024).
"First Results of Mars Express—ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Mutual Radio Occultation"
Radio Science
59
(7) e2023RS007873.
Bibcode
2024RaSc...5907873P
doi
10.1029/2023RS007873
hdl
10261/371076
ISSN
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Anderson, Paul Scott (September 18, 2024).
"New Cloud Atlas of Mars for cloudspotting on the red planet"
earthsky.org
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Tirsch, Daniela; Machado, Pedro; Brasil, Francisco; Hernández-Bernal, Jorge; Sánchez-Lavega, Agustín; Carter, John; Montmessin, Franck; Hauber, Ernst; Matz, Klaus-Dieter (July 3, 2024).
Clouds and Storms as seen by HRSC - A catalogue of atmospheric phenomena on Mars
(Report). Copernicus Meetings.
doi
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"Have we been wrong about why Mars is red?"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
May 18,
2025
Valantinas, Adomas; Mustard, John F.; Chevrier, Vincent; Mangold, Nicolas; Bishop, Janice L.; Pommerol, Antoine; Beck, Pierre; Poch, Olivier; Applin, Daniel M.; Cloutis, Edward A.; Hiroi, Takahiro; Robertson, Kevin; Pérez-López, Sebastian; Ottersberg, Rafael; Villanueva, Geronimo L. (February 25, 2025).
"Detection of ferrihydrite in Martian red dust records ancient cold and wet conditions on Mars"
Nature Communications
16
(1): 1712.
Bibcode
2025NatCo..16.1712V
doi
10.1038/s41467-025-56970-z
ISSN
2041-1723
PMC
11861699
PMID
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"Mars Express updates software, extends lifetime until 2034"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
May 17,
2025
Stanley, Sarah (June 20, 2025).
"Orbiter Pair Expands View of Martian Ionosphere"
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"Ionospheric Analysis With Martian Mutual Radio Occultation"
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ISSN
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"EPSC-DPS2025: Predicting the Green Glow of Aurorae on the Red Planet – Europlanet"
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September 12,
2025
Knutsen, Elise Wright; McConnochie, Timothy H.; Lemmon, Mark; Viet, Shayla; Cousin, Agnes; Wiens, Roger C.; Bell, James F. (2025).
"Green-line aurora detection attempts from the surface of Mars"
doi
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. Retrieved
September 12,
2025
"Dancing dust devils trace raging winds on Mars"
www.esa.int
. Retrieved
October 10,
2025
Bickel, Valentin T.; Almeida, Miguel; Read, Matthew; Schriever, Antonia; Tirsch, Daniela; Hauber, Ernst; Gwinner, Klaus; Thomas, Nicolas; Roatsch, Thomas (2025).
"Dust devil migration patterns reveal strong near-surface winds across Mars"
Science Advances
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PMC
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PMID
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Cowing, Keith (October 9, 2025).
"Raging Winds On Mars"
Astrobiology
. Retrieved
October 10,
2025
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STSat-1
e-Bird
INSAT-3E
SMART-1
October
Galaxy 13
Horizons-1
Shenzhou 5
Resourcesat-1
Soyuz TMA-3
USA-172
CBERS-2
Chuang Xin 1
SERVIS-1
November
FSW-3 1
Shen Tong 1
Yamal-201
Yamal-202
IGS-2A
IGS-2B
December
USA-173
Gruzomaket
Kosmos 2402
Kosmos 2403
Kosmos 2404
USA-174
USA-175
Amos-2
Ekspress AM22
Tan Ce 1
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ).
Crewed flights
are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
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