Great image of Mars from Mars Express:

First Pictures
http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/e...firsteng.shtml

The camera on Mars Express will have a resolution capability in orbit
at Mars of 10 meters in color and 2.3 meters in B/W:

HRSC on Mars Express.
http://berlinadmin.dlr.de/Missions/e...ameraeng.shtml

One of the scientists on the Mars Express HRSC color camera team is
Dennis Reiss. He had argued there were indications of currently
forming water carved gullies in Russell crater on Mars:

Dune
Is There Martian Mud in Russell Crater?
by Astrobiology Magazine staffwriter
"Summary: Satellite photos of a bright dune in the Martian southern
hemisphere show remarkable details of an unusual erosion pattern.
Unlike rocky avalanches found elsewhere, the dune flows suggest to two
German scientists that for a few summer noon hours, liquid water may
carve up the dunes in a region called Russell Crater. They ask the
question: has mud flowed in the last thousand years on Mars?"
http://mars.astrobio.net/news/article86.html

The THEMIS camera has shown it is possible to image the gully areas
on Mars at 20m/pixel resolution. So the Mars Express camera should be
able to resolve these areas in color at 10m/pixel.

For those of us interested in investigating possible life on Mars it
is noticeable there are greenish areas in the upper right in the Mars
Express image.


Bob Clark


cf.:

From: Robert Clark )
Subject: Mars, the "Greenish" Planet?
Newsgroups: sci.astro, alt.sci.planetary, sci.space.history,
sci.astro.amateur, rec.arts.sf.science
Date: 2002-12-11 18:31:56 PST
http://groups.google.com/groups?th=4a3ea56991ef1f46


From: Robert Clark )
Subject: Dark spots in Mars gullies - evidence of cyanobacteria?
Newsgroups: sci.astro, sci.astro.seti, alt.sci.planetary, sci.bio.misc
Date: 2001-11-29 14:05:07 PST
http://groups.google.com/groups?th=b4c2374dcdf153f6



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Andrew Yee wrote in message ...
ESA News
http://www.esa.int

3 December 2003

Planet Mars from 5.5 million kilometres
[http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/SEMN..._index_1.html]

This picture (copyright ESA) was taken on 1 December 2003 from ESA's Mars
Express spacecraft by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) under the
responsibility of the Principal Investigator Prof. Gerhard Neukum. It was
processed by the DLR Institute for Planetary Research, also involved in the
development of the camera, and by the Freie Universität Berlin.

This picture shows planet Mars as seen from a distance of about 5.5 million
kilometres. This is a very unusual view of Mars because the planet is
illuminated in a way never seen from Earth. The sun shines on part of the
western hemisphere, but more than a third of the Martian disc lies in the dark.
The dark features at the top are part of the northern lowlands of Mars, where
oceans possibly existed thousands of millions of years ago.

Credits: ESA

For further information please contact:

ESA Media Relations Service
Tel: +33(0)1.53.69.7155
Fax: +33(0)1.53.69.7690

Prof. Gerhard Neukum
Freie Universität Berlin
Department of Earth Sciences
Malterserstr. 74-100, Building D
D-12249 Berlin
Germany
Tel: +49 30-83870-579 (or -575)
Fax: +49 30-83870-188
email:

Related links

* Europe goes to Mars
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html
* Mars Express mission facts
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Exp...U55V9ED_0.html
* Beagle 2 lander homepage
http://www.beagle2.com

Related articles

* 'Europe lands on Mars' -- Media event at ESA/ESOC
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBUGXLDMD_index_0.html
* Crucial moments on the way to Mars
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Exp...Z0UZJND_0.html
* Are you ready for Mars?
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMTERWLDMD_index_0.html