Mars Express Examines Crater Hale
ESA — These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, show Crater Hale in the Argyre basin of the southern hemisphere of Mars.
The images show an area close to the northern rim of the Argyre basin, located at latitude 36° South and longitude 324° East.
The image was taken with a ground resolution of about 40 metres per pixel during Mars Express orbit 533 in June 2004.
Slight periodic colour and brightness variations in parts of the image indicate atmospheric waves in clouds.
Crater Hale, with its terraced walls, central peak and a part of the inner ring is visible in the upper (eastern) part of the image. The region has been eroded heavily by deposits caused by this impact, and subsequent processes.
On the southern rim of Hale, parts of the crater wall have moved downslope towards the crater’s centre (see black and white detailed image left).
At the bottom (western) part of the picture, as seen below in the other detailed image with high resolution, the surface shows a network of fluvial channels which may have been caused by running water.
The HRSC experiment on ESA’s Mars Express mission is led by the Principal Investigator Prof. Dr Gerhard Neukum, of the Freie Universitaet Berlin, who also designed the camera. The science team for the experiment consists of 45 Co-Investigators from 32 institutions and 10 nations. Â
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Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet. The colour images were processed using the HRSC nadir (vertical view) and three colour channels.
The camera was developed at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and built in co-operation with industrial partners EADS Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH and Jena-Optronik GmbH.
The HRSC is operated by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, through ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
The perspective views were calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.
The 3D anaglyph image was created from the nadir channel and one of the stereo channels. Stereoscopic glasses are needed to view the 3D image.
About Mars Express
The Red Planet has always been a source of intrigue and fascination. It is currently the only planet in the Solar System on which there is a strong possibility of finding life – past, or perhaps present. And it is a prime candidate for future manned exploration, and even colonisation.
Europe has waited a long time for the opportunity to mount its own mission to Mars and that dream is now reality. Mars Express, ESA’s mission to the red planet launched June 2003, marks the opening of a new era for Europe in planetary exploration.
The ESA project is also the start of an innovative way of organising the building blocks that form European space missions. The spacecraft was built and launched in record time and at a much lower cost than previous, similar missions into outer space.
A scientific water diviner
Mars Express is the first ‘flexible’ mission of ESA’s long-term science exploration programme. The journey to the red planet began on 2 June 2003 with the launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket.
It ended on 25 December 2003 with the successful orbit insertion. Mars Express comprises a number of essential components – the spacecraft and its instruments, the lander, a network of ground and data processing stations, and the launcher itself. These are supported by an experienced team of engineers in ESA and industry and hundreds of international scientists.
The mission’s main objective is to search for sub-surface water from orbit and deploy a lander onto the Martian surface. Seven scientific instruments onboard the orbiting spacecraft will perform a series of remote sensing experiments designed to shed new light on the Martian atmosphere, the planet’s structure, geology and composition.
The lander, called Beagle 2 after the ship in which Charles Darwin set sail to explore unchartered areas of the Earth in 1831, represents an exciting opportunity for Europe to contribute to the search for life on Mars.
While addressing its science objectives, Mars Express will also provide relay communication services between the Earth and various landers deployed on the surface by other nations, thus forming a centre piece of the international effort in Mars exploration.
Searching for the elixir of life
Scientists hope that the instruments onboard Mars Express will detect the presence of water below the surface. This could exist in the form of underground rivers, pools, aquifers or permafrost. Overall, the main goals of the instruments to be carried by the Mars Express orbiter are:
– Sharp-eyed, 3D photography to discover more about the surface and geology of Mars.
– Looking at the ‘invisible’ beneath the surface by using radar beams to penetrate below ground. Different materials or structures will send back different radar echoes allowing scientists to produce an accurate 3D survey.
– Precise determination of atmospheric circulation and composition to build up an accurate picture of Martian meteorology and climate.
– Study of the interaction of the atmosphere with outer space.
Gathering such information on the history and present day circumstances of Mars may also improve our understanding of phenomena that influence our own environment. For example, if we can determine why Martian water disappeared in the past we may learn more about whether a similar fate one day awaits the oceans of Earth.
The Mars Express spacecraft and its instruments represent a truly international endeavour – a stereoscopic camera from Germany, a mineralogical mapping device from France and an atmospheric sounder from Italy. The radar instrument, to probe for water at depths of a few kilometres below the surface, has been built jointly between Italy and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.
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