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Mars Express zeros in on erosion features

19 March 2009

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This map shows the Aram Chaos region of Mars - a crater 280 km in diameter lying almost directly on the martian equator. In this region, the OMEGA instrument on board ESA's Mars Express found mineralogical evidence for large-scale deposits of ferric oxides (commonly known as 'rust' on Earth) and sulphates. The findings are relevant as these features are also common to other regions of Mars, widely separated from Aram Chaos, providing new hints to understand the past martian climate.

This image is the results of the superimposition of a MOLA digital elevation model with THEMIS visible images. The inset indicates the location of Aram Chaos on a MOLA topographic map of Mars.

Credits: NASA/MGS/MOLA/THEMIS

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Mars Express left Earth for Mars on a six-month journey in June 2003, when the positions of the two planets made for the shortest possible route, a condition that occurs once every twenty-six months. The intrepid spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan onboard a Russian Soyuz/Fregat launcher. It completed the interplanetary cruise, achieving a velocity of 10 800 km/h relative to Earth, in December 2003. Since entering its operational, near-polar orbit, Mars Express has operated perfectly, delivering some of the most spectacular and scientifically valuable results ever received from the Red Planet.

Credits: ESA - Illustration by Medialab

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