Mission scientists for the European Space Agency鈥檚 Mars Express spacecraft saw the first images and data from the orbiter on Thursday.
Mike McKay, flight operations director at mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, told 快猫短视频: 鈥淭hey blew me away.鈥� The images will be released to the public on 20 January, with the first scientific results and 3-D videos expected to follow three days later.
Mars Express is now easing towards its intended orbit, and six of its seven instruments have been switched on and are working. 鈥淢ars Express is alive and performing flawlessly,鈥� says McKay.
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The spacecraft has been making minor adjustments since 25 December, when it burned its main engine to enter Mars orbit. On 11 January, it completed its last big manoeuvre and closed off the valves to its main engine. It will use only thrusters to reach its final orbit on 28 January.
That orbit will take it around the poles in a highly elliptical path ranging from 260 to 11,500 kilometres from the surface. This will allow the spacecraft to image the entire planet in unprecedented detail and record data from both dark and sunlit hemispheres.
Ground penetrating
The mission is scheduled to run for two years and will study the planet鈥檚 atmosphere and geology. It will map about 40 per cent of the surface at a resolution of 10 to 20 metres and the entire planet at 100 metres 鈥� in both full colour and 3-D.
The seventh instrument, a powerful ground-penetrating radar, is due to be switched on in March. It will probe the structure of the top five kilometres of the Martian crust 鈥� the first time such a feat has been attempted beyond Earth.
鈥淲e have some very exciting things coming from Mars Express,鈥� says Jan-Peter Muller, a co-investigator on the mission鈥檚 High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).
Lost lander
The first will be the camera鈥檚 initial images, which has been taking pictures since 12 January. Using the device鈥檚 highest resolution of two metres, the camera will focus on famous Martian landmarks such as the Solar System鈥檚 largest known volcano, Olympus Mons, and canyon, the 4000 km-long Valles Marineris.
In the next few weeks the camera will also search for the Beagle 2 lander, which has been silent since it entered the planet鈥檚 atmosphere on 25 December. The HRSC will scan the 80 km by 50 km landing region in 12 km strips and will look for Beagle 2鈥檚 white airbags, which may stand out against the red soil.
鈥淏ut the probability of seeing the airbags is very close to zero,鈥� Muller told 快猫短视频, adding that nothing could be done to rescue the lander even if it was seen.