ESA - Mars Express - Clamps away, Mars Express eases its grip on its lander

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Clamps away, Mars Express eases its grip on its lander

5 June 2003

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Beagle 2 lander leaving the Mars Express Orbiter

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The Beagle 2 lander, to be carried on ESA's Mars Express, is equipped with a suite of instruments designed to look for evidence of life on Mars.
The Soyuz/Fregat lifts off on 2 June 2003 with ESA's Mars Express. Europe's first mission to the Red Planet leaves Earth when the positions of the two planets make for the shortest possible route, a condition that occurs once every twenty-six months. The intrepid spacecraft will start its six-month journey from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan onboard a Russian Soyuz/Fregat launcher.

Credits: ESA 2001. Illustration by Medialab.

Mars Express launch replay

Rollout - the story in pictures Mars Express en route for the Red Planet Mars Express – ESA sets ambitious goals for the first European mission to Mars ESA's Mars Express ready for launch Mars Express leaves for Baikonur