Metallic waves on ancient Mars
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has spotted a swathe of metallic-looking waves filling Mars’s large Kaiser Crater – an ancient and otherworldly dune field sculpted by wind.
The mission
Cluster was a constellation of four spacecraft investigating the interaction between the Sun and Earth’s magnetosphere in unparalleled detail. The magnetosphere is our shield against the charged gas that carries particles and magnetic fields outwards from the Sun.
Launch: 16 July and 9 August 2000
Mission end: 8 September 2024
Observed: solar wind, magnetosphere
Orbit: elliptical around Earth’s poles, a few hundred to 125 000 km altitude
Spacecraft names: Rumba, Salsa, Samba and Tango
11
instruments
4
spacecraft
2
decades of operation
Media modal
Latest news
Why we need Solar Orbiter
While it is undoubtedly a great achievement to operate so close to the Sun, the question remains, why do something so risky with a €1.5 billion euro spacecraft when you can take images of the Sun from Earth? The answer, of course, is science.
Webb captures commotion from nebula’s stellar jets
NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled numerous stars formerly hidden by clouds of dust in a stellar nursery known as NGC 7129 – a cauldron of cosmic creation, 3300 light-years from Earth.
Happy New Year on Mars
30 September 2026 marks the start of a new year on Mars. At exactly 10:16 CEST/08:16 UTC on Earth, the Red Planet begins a new orbit around our Sun.
Media modal
Latest images
Cluster II reentry ground tracks Samba and Tango
Cluster II reentry ground tracks Samba and Tango
Setting up instruments for airborne reentry observation campaign
Setting up instruments for airborne reentry observation campaign
Media modal
Latest videos
ROSIE: Cluster's Samba and Tango Re-entry Observation Campaign: Cluster-Samba reentry - Tracking camera footage
ROSIE: Cluster's Samba and Tango Re-entry Observation Campaign: Cluster-Samba reentry - Loss of signal on mission control displays
ROSIE: Cluster's Samba and Tango Re-entry Observation Campaign: Cluster-Samba reentry - ESOC control room reactions following loss of signal
Media modal
Media modal
The science of space weather
1
Media modal
Related links
Cluster science highlights
Despite a nominal lifetime of two years, ESA’s Cluster is now entering its third decade in space. This unique four-spacecraft mission has been revealing the secrets of Earth’s magnetic environment since 2000 and, with 20 years of observations under its belt, is still enabling new discoveries as it explores our planet’s relationship with the Sun.
