New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 30 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

Updated images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 29 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 29 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 28 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 26 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 24 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 23 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

The Mars Webcam team here at ESA/ESOC were able recently to assist a school outreach project organised in cooperation with the Mars Society Germany. As part of the plan, the Colegiul National in Iasi, a junior college in north-eastern Romania, downloaded a selected set of VMC images and are now preparing a project report with the students' analysis and interpretations. Cool! Here's an extract from the update they posted on the school website recently (thanks to Luciana for the translated text!):

In January of this year, the Colegiul National Gymnasium in Iasi, north-eastern Romania, who is a partner group to the organisation Mars Society Germany, decided to develop a comprehensive and educational project. The goal of the project is to depict space and space exploration to young students (Kinder garden and ages 11-16) in a more attractive light. Science, technology and international teamwork will play and even more important role in the future and the project hopes to awaken the students' interests in these topics. The project, called "Next Generation", is carried out in many levels and workshops. Although "Next Generation" only takes place in the school in Iasi, it can later be used as a model for similar projects.

As part of this project, the students decided to analyse an image set acquired with the VMC Camera on the Mars Express spacecraft. The Mars Society Germany turned to the Mars Express flight control team at ESA's European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, where they were asked to make suggestions for an observation which fit according to ESOC plans and didn't impact any other activities. After the suggestion of the "Next Generation" team was accepted, the group of students received their very own VMC image set (see picture). The series of pictures was taken on 3 April 2010 and received on Earth shortly after.

The special thing about this observation is the perspective - in which the Tharsis volcanos (x3), Olympus Mons and Argyre Planitia are shown, which usually require powerful professional telescopes for viewing from Earth. A complete description and analyses of the picture series will be publicized in the near future. 

We hope to post a follow-up shortly with the students' results!

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 20 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »

New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 16 April 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

 Full story »