ESA Mars showcase - Mars Express Video - Buckle Up For The Trip Of A LIfetime

The European Space Agency launched Mars Express on June 2, 2013. 6 1/2 months later it arrived and began the first of its 12,500 orbits. During those orbits it amassed a enormous collection of data and pictures. Pictures and data that were used to create an almost global digital topographic model of the surface of Mars. These images that you will see were taken by a High Resolution Stereo Camera. Some of you may have already seen the pictures, but have you had the opportunity to view this wonderful video experience that you will never forget?

From the highest volcano to the deepest canyon, from impact craters to ancient river beds and lava flows, this showcase of images from ESA's Mars Express takes you on an unforgettable journey across the Red Planet.

Grabens, dendritic valleys, lava flows and the highest known mountain in the Solar System – in the images from the German stereo camera on board the Mars Express spacecraft, the topography of the Red Planet appears so three-dimensional that you could walk through it. "For the first time, we can see Mars spatially – in three dimensions," says Ralf Jaumann, project manager for the mission at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). The spacecraft with the camera on board was launched on 2 June 2003. Since its arrival at Mars six-and-a-half months later, it has orbited the planet almost 12,000 times and provided scientists with unprecedented images. It has been used to gradually create a 3D image of Mars, enabling the planetary researchers to acquire new and surprising information about the climate and development of the Red Planet.

On board Mars Express, in orbit around the Red Planet