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Mars Express on successful final orbit. First 3D photography of Mars

* Developed and built by EADS Astrium under the lead of ESA, Mars Express is now in orbit around the red planet after many complex mission-critical operations and manoeuvres.
* Its seven on-board scientific instruments have started work, and the first 3D image of Mars has been provided by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)

Toulouse/Friedrichshafen/Stevenage, 19 January 2004

The European Mars Express probe has sent back the first fascinating picture of Mars. This colour 3D image was taken by the cosmic space camera, HRSC, designed and built by EADS Astrium, Friedrichshafen, as prime contractor to the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). The photo shows a 1700 kilometres long an 65 km wide portion of the "Big Canyon" of Mars, Vallis Marineris from two directions. It is the first image of that size which shows the surface of the Red Planet in high resolution, colour and in 3D.

The High Resolution Stereo Camera, a masterpiece of optics, is able to pick out an object of 2 metres from a distance of 250 kilometres. With its wide variety of observation modes, HRSC offers a multitude of opportunities to the planet researchers. It will, for instance, be used to search for signs of former oceans or rivers. Thanks to an on-board data compression system and an intelligent concept of operation, the camera can process a large number of photographs, thus reducing the amount of raw data down to about five per cent.

The seven instruments on board Mars Express enable scientists to analyse the composition of the atmosphere and determine its global circulation, and ascertain the mineral composition of the surface and the structure of the subsurface to a depth of a few kilometres. The scientific world expects a massive amount of information from this mission.The other instruments on board Mars Express are :

* Marsis, a radar instrument, which scans the planet’s surface. The radar waves sound off the surface structure down to the permafrost, which means that it can penetrate between two and three kilometres into the surface. This enables investigation of the composition of the different rock strata and facilitates the search for the presence of sub-terranean water.
* Aspera, which investigates the influence of solar wind on the Mars atmosphere, by studying the interactions of the atmosphere with the interplanetary medium.
* Radioscience, which scans the surface and atmosphere of the Red Planet with radio waves.
* Omega, a spectrometer for the investigation of minerals on the Mars surface and the composition of its atmosphere.
* PFS, which explores the composition of the atmosphere.
* Spicam, which generates the vertical profile of the distribution of carbon dioxide, ozone and aerosols in the Martian atmosphere and, furthermore, measures the temperature and observes the clouds.

The Mars Express design is already being used for the Venus Express and is also the basis for ESA’s wind monitoring satellite, Aeolus. Both of these are ESA missions with EADS Astrium as the prime contractor.

EADS Astrium is Europe’s leading satellite manufacturer. Its activities cover complete civil and military telecommunications and Earth observation systems, science and navigation programmes, and all spacecraft avionics and equipment. EADS Astrium is wholly owned by EADS SPACE. In 2002 EADS SPACE had a turnover of €2.2 billion and 12,300 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain.

For more information, please contact :
EADS SPACE (FR)
Rémi ROLAND
+33 (0) 1 34 88 35 78

EADS SPACE (UK)
Alistair SCOTT
+44 (0) 1438 77 3698

EADS SPACE (GER)
Mathias PIKELJ
+49 (0) 7545 8 91 23