Launched in 2003, the Mars Express spacecraft celebrated its 20,000th orbit around Mars

Spacecraft image credit: ESA / ATG medialab; March: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin

On October 28, the Mars Express spacecraft made its 20,000th orbit around the red planet. Launched in 2003, this concentration of technology has led to major scientific advances and is the pride of the European Space Agency (ESA).

After its launch on June 2, 2003, the probe reached Mars about seven months later, on December 25 of the same year. It is not the only spacecraft in orbit around the red planet, two other probes sent by NASA are also there: Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter respectively launched in 2001 and 2006.

A revolutionary camera

Mars Express stands out, especially for its high-performance camera. The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) was designed by the German Aerospace Center and allows us to photograph the surface of the red planet in 3 dimensions ... and colors! In 16 years of existence, Mars Express has photographed 75% of the Martian surface, more than 110 million square kilometers! If the life of the probe had allowed it and keeping the same pace, the HRSC would have finished documenting the entire surface of the red planet by 2025.

A large amount of data collected by the probe is an important element. critical for Mars exploration, as researchers have been able to choose landing locations for NASA's InSight mission, the Curiosity rovers and March 2020, as well as the ESA ExoMars program, planned for 2020.

Great scientific advances
When she left Earth in 2003, Mars Express took a craft called Beagle 2 on board. Its mission: to find signs of life on the red planet, current or old. Unfortunately, the contact with the undercarriage was lost shortly after its separation from the probe. This failure, however, did not prevent Mars Express from allowing major scientific advances. In 2004, for example, ESA announced that it had discovered traces of water and carbon dioxide in the form of ice on the planet thanks to the data collected by the probe. Mars Express also sent us a beautiful shot of the crater of Korolev, a place covered with a huge frozen lake.

Perspective view of Korolev © ESA / DLR / FU Berlin

Having just completed its 20,000th orbit around the red planet, and largely contributed to its exploration, Mars Express is expected to complete its mission at the end of 2020.

Sources: ESA, Futura-Sciences .