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Mars Express radar ready to work

22 June 2005

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This is an impression of the completely deployed MARSIS experiment on board ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Its two 20-metre booms and the 7-metre booms are sprung out and locked into place.

The MARSIS experiment will map the Martian sub-surface structure to a depth of a few kilometres. The instrument's 40-metre long antenna booms will send low frequency radio waves towards the planet, which will be reflected from any surface they encounter.

Credits: ESA

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Animation showing the non-critical deployment of the third boom of the MARSIS instrument on ESA's Mars Express on 17 June, which proceeded smoothly as planned.

The delicate three-stage phase of radar boom deployment, and all the following tests to verify spacecraft integrity, took place between 2 May and 19 June. Deployment of the first boom was completed on 10 May. That boom, initially stuck in unlocked mode, was later released by exploiting solar heating of its hinges.

Taking advantage of the lessons learnt from that first boom-deployment exercise, the second 20-metre boom was successfully deployed on 14 June.

Credits: ESA

Looking at Mars