REAL LIFE NEWS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARS EXPRESS
by Hazed
The spaceship Mars Express is celebrating its tenth birthday with the release of an atlas of Mars.
The European Space Agency, which launched the craft ten years ago, has published the video atlas, which maps a rotating map of volcanoes on Mars. It also shows the minerals which have been formed by volcanic activity and dust dunes.
The agency's director of science and robotic exploration, Alvaro Giménez, said "The history of Mars is encoded in its minerals. These new global views, made possible thanks to the longevity of ESA's Mars Express mission, are helping us to unlock the secrets of 4.6 billion years of planetary evolution."
It may not be as exciting as the pictures beamed back by the Curiosity rover as it trundles around on the planet's surface, but the data send by Mars Express has been very valuable to scientists. It was even used to help in the planning of Curiosity's mission - the information on minerals such as clay, which are formed in the presence of water, helped to decide where Curiosity should land and the route for its explorations.
Mars Express is still going strong. Let's look forward to its 20th birthday!
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/06/03/mars_express_tenth_anniversary_atlas/
