Mars Express Mission Log

Video del “sorvolo” di Noctis Labyrinthus¹ realizzato da ESA combinando² le informazioni topografiche con le immagini raccolte da Mars Express.

[1] "Nestled between the colossal martian ‘Grand Canyon’ (Valles Marineris) and the tallest volcanoes in the Solar System (the Tharsis region) lies Noctis Labyrinthus – a vast system of deep and steep valleys that stretches out for around 1190 km (roughly the length of Italy here on Earth). This video visualises a flight over the eastern part of Noctis Labyrinthus as seen by Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).

[2] The video was created using an image mosaic built over eight orbits (0442, 1085, 1944, 1977, 1988, 10497, 14632 and 16684) by ESA’s Mars Express and its HRSC. This mosaic is combined with topographic information from a digital terrain model to generate a three-dimensional landscape, with every second of the video comprising 50 separate frames rendered according to a pre-defined camera path. The opening credits (Mars globe, first 24 seconds) were created using the recent 20-year Mars global colour mosaic; this opening sequence has a three-fold vertical exaggeration, while the subsequent flight animation has a 1.5-fold exaggeration. Haze has been added to conceal the limits of the terrain model, and starts building up at distance of between 150 and 200 km. The video is centred at the martian coordinates of 7°S, 265°E.

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Per la prima volta in 20 anni di missione, la congiunzione è stata totale, nel senso che, visto dalla Terra, Marte era proprio dietro il disco solare per un giorno e mezzo.

Di solito per congiunzione si intende quando Marte è a 1° o 2° dal Sole, cosa che accade ogni 2 anni circa. A differenza della NASA, dove c’è silenzio radio, le sonde ESA hanno lavorato a regime decimato, accettando le interferenze del Sole per trasmettere dati.

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Trovato ghiaccio all’equatore, sotto la superficie.
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023GL105490

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È disponibile il primo catalogo delle nuvole di Marte, con immagini prese da Mars Express.

Il catalogo è scientifico, non è molto user friendly.

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Video suggestivo realizzato con sette fotogrammi raccolti da Mars Express nel 2006.

Dust Storms at Nord Rupes [interpolated]

1080p-ezgif.com-video-to-gif-converter

Credits:
Processing: Andrea Luck & Simeon Schmauß CC BY
Raw Data: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

Video su Flikr: https://flic.kr/p/2qyG5Ca
Versione non interpolata: https://flic.kr/p/2qtp1Vt

Un articolo di ESA che descrive le immagini.

This view from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) suffers from very little such cloud cover, and shows the northern polar cap during the summer of 2006. […] These winds, known as katabatic winds, move cold, dry air downslope under the force of gravity, often originating in areas of higher elevation (such as glaciers or snow-covered plateaus) and flowing down into lower, warmer areas such as valleys and depressions. They are acted upon by the Coriolis force as they move, which causes them to deviate from a straight path and form the aforementioned spiral pattern we see.

Il thread in cui Simeon Schmauß spiega i dettagli.

Edit 13/12

Sembra preso da The Martian.

Epic dust storm on Mars - North Polar Cap
(ESA Mars Express HRSC 2018-04-03)

1080bp-ezgif.com-optimize

Credits:
Processing: Andrea Luck CC BY
Raw Data: ESA/DLR/FUBerlin

Video su flikr: flic.kr/p/2qzy1b7
Versione non interpolata: flic.kr/p/2qzy4m9

L’articolo di ESA che descrive le immagini.

It was one of several local small-scale dust storms that have been observed in recent months at the Red Planet, which is currently enduring a particularly intense dust storm season. A much larger storm emerged further southwest at the end of May and developed into a global, planet-encircling dust storm within several weeks.

The intensity of this major event means very little light from the Sun reaches the martian surface, a situation extreme enough that NASA’s 15-year old Opportunity rover has been unable to recharge its batteries and call home: it has been in hibernation mode since mid-June.

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Mars Express ha ripreso alcune viste straordinarie di Fobos con il globo di Marte sullo sfondo:

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Un sasso di passaggio ha fotobombato queste belle immagini di Marte riprese da Mars Express:

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