io9: mars express

Now You Can Ogle Mars via Webcam

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Want to see what Mars looked like a few days ago, so you can pretend you're flying in orbit around the red planet almost in realtime? You could be doing that right now, thanks to the European Space Agency's Mars webcam. Mounted on the Mars Express Probe is a visual light camera that basically takes pictures of the planet every day. ESA researchers post galleries of the images every few days, and even do "best of the year" compliations. One of my favorites, though, is a movie showing what Mars looked like over the course of a month — we've got it for you below.

I love that you can watch the weather moving across the face of the planet. Of course it makes one yearn for a full-color, high-resolution set of pictures, but I'll settle for this. The cam is called the Visual Monitoring Camera, and it's lucky the device even works at all. This is a standard camera, not a scientific instrument, and researchers weren't even sure it would survive the journey through space to reach Mars. But when the Mars Express reached the plent in 2007, the camera came back online and started snapping photos. Let's call them the first tourist snapshots of Mars.

Watch the cam here, and find out more about the ESA Visual Monitoring Camera project here. Thanks, Eric!

Hardcore Martian Moon Pix — In 3D!

Ed Grabianowski — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:00:00 PDT

The European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter passed within a few kilometers of Phobos last week. While it was there, it took some stunning high resolution photos of the irregular Martian moon. We're talking almost "Phobos Street View" resolution here. Mars Express also took some shots with its stereo cameras. So put on your blue and red cardboard glasses and check out Phobos in thrilling 3D.

The Mars Express photos have a resolution of less than four meters per pixel, and they cover the entire surface of Phobos. This gives scientists an unprecedented look at the spudlike satellite. Next year, a Russian mission with the awesome name "Phobos-Grunt" will land there and take soil samples before returning to Earth.
I actually didn't have a pair of 3D glasses handy, so hopefully this looks as cool as I'm hoping it does. Is Phobos hurtling out of your screen at you while a cheesy Aerosmith song plays in the background? Check out the full-size (i.e., truly enormous) images here. Images by: ESA.

Mars Express Acquires Sharpest Images Of Martian Moon Phobos. [Science Daily]

The Frozen Waterfalls of Mars

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:25:48 PDT

This deep gorge known as the Echus Chasma was ripped into the Martian soil by gushing water, and scientists speculate that it may once have boasted giant, 4000-meter-high waterfalls. This image, by the European Space Agency's Mars Express satellite, was released this week along with a few others. We've got an even more gorgeous one for you below.

According to the European Space Agency:

[This is] an image taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA’s Mars Express of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on the Red Planet. Echus Chasma, which resembles Arizona's Grand Canyon, is an approximately 62.1 miles (100 km) long and 6.2 miles (10 km) wide. The data was acquired on 25 September 2005. A 4000-meter-high cliff marks the edge of the source area of Kasei Valles in its western part. Gigantic water falls may have once plunged over these cliffs on to the valley floor. The original shoreline is still partially visible. The remarkably smooth valley floor was later flooded by basaltic lava.

Photos via AP.

Echus Chasma Images from Mars Express [via People's Daily Online]

Mars Busts Out In 3-D

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 06:30:23 PST

Here's an orthoimage of the famous Olympus Mons on Mars, with the different colors representing different elevations. It's just a taste of the 3-D goodness to come. The European Space Agency is getting ready to release a new high-resolution Digital Terrain Model dataset that will let researchers build their own 3-D models of Mars' topography. The data comes thanks to the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Knowing exactly where the surface of Mars is in relation to other features will help scientists interpret radar data and other studies. And maybe make insanely detailed Mars globes. I totally want one. [ESA]