Mars Express

Mars Express is a space mission launched by the European Space Agency and partner agencies on June 2, 2003. The goals of the mission involved examining the orbit and surface of Mars using an orbiter and a rover. Although the rover, Beagle 2, failed to operate correctly, the Mars Express Orbiter proved to be a great success. It completed its mission by circling the red planet for a Martian year, sending detailed photographs and readings to Earth. The most important finds included evidence of frozen water, methane, and possible volcanism on Mars. The Orbiter continued its work in the Martian orbit as of 2024.

Background

For thousands of years, Europeans have been fascinated by space. Ancient Greek philosophers speculated on the nature and motions of the heavenly bodies. Later, astronomers such as Nicolaus Copernicus of Poland began to discover how and why planets move around the sun. One planet of particular interest was the red planet Mars, Earth’s neighbor. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe mapped the motion of Mars. Later, German Johannes Kepler worked out its exact orbit through the solar system.

Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first person to study Mars through a telescope, with later astronomers finding many of the planet’s finer details. Some early observations led to the widespread belief that Mars had canals or flowing water, which might point to the existence of living organisms and even civilizations. This idea was later disproven, largely due to the work of another European, French astronomer Eugene Antoniadi, who mapped the features of the red planet with a good degree of accuracy in the early twentieth century.

Although Europeans have long looked to space and studied Mars from afar, most of Europe was left behind during the Space Race that started in the mid-1900s. The United States and the Soviet Union engaged in this scientific competition to not only study the mysteries of space, but also to send people and machines there. Milestones such as the Soviet launching of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, into space in 1957 and the first moon landing of the American Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969 left most Europeans on the sidelines. Until the early twenty-first century, most of Europe struggled to join the exploration of space.

Overview

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russians and other Europeans began to look again at space, in particular at Mars. In 1996, Russian scientists, backed by many other European countries, created a plan to send machinery into space to study Mars. This so-called Mars ‘96 mission ended in failure, although some of the technology developed for it inspired the next attempt to reach the red planet.

In the early 2000s, European scientists developed a new plan. Twenty-four companies from fifteen European countries, comprising the European Space Agency (ESA), plus the American National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), collaborated to form Mars Express. The name Mars Express had a two-fold meaning. Primarily, it symbolized the speed at which it was prepared. The secondary meaning referred to Earth and Mars being at an unusually close proximity in their orbits, and therefore the spacecraft would be able to reach Mars in a much shorter time than would otherwise be expected.

The founders of Mars Express intended their mission to get an up-close survey of Mars. They hoped to study Martian climate, atmosphere, and topology from the sky around the planet. Additionally, they planned to study the surface of Mars as well, examining and sampling its rocks and minerals, and looking for traces of water. On June 2, 2003, the Mars Express machinery launched into space on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After a lengthy trip, it entered Mars’ orbit on December 25 of that year.

The Mars Express mission involved two primary components. These were the Mars Express Orbiter and a lander christened the Beagle 2. The unusual name of the British-built lander was inspired by the Beagle, the ship that carried Charles Darwin on his explorations of wildlife and evolution on Earth. The Beagle 2 proved unsuccessful, however. Technical problems ended its usefulness and broke its communication with the Orbiter and its Earth-bound operators, and it was ultimately written off as lost.

The Mars Express Orbiter, however, made up for this failure with a series of successful studies. Circling endlessly around the red planet, employing tools such as cameras, spectrometers, and atomic analyzers, the Orbiter captured thousands of stunning three-dimensional photographs of Mars. It mapped cloud formations and detected possible atmospheric methane, which may indicate volcanic activity. Perhaps most importantly, the Orbiter identified signs of water on Mars, including huge frozen polar caps.

The Orbiter accomplished some other side tasks as well. Due to the shape of its orbit, the machine was able to get close-up views of Martian moons, particularly Phobos, and capture striking photos. In addition, the Orbiter served as a communications station, helping NASA send messages to its own spacecraft on and near Mars. NASA also collaborated with the ESA and the Italian Space Agency to create a new radar technology called MARSIS, or Mars Advanced Radar, for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding. This radar system helped the Orbiter scan features of Mars hidden beneath the planetary surface, including underground ice deposits.

Mars Express completed its initial mission goals after one Martian year, equivalent to 687 Earth days. However, the Orbiter remained in operating condition. In 2023, its mission was extended through December 31, 2026.

Bibliography

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