Mars Express Blog

Mars Express Blog http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/7 Mars Express is Europe’s first planetary mission. At launch, the mission consisted of an orbiter carrying seven instruments for remote sensing observations of the planet, and a lander (Beagle 2) for on-the-spot measurements of Martian rock and soil. Mars Express started science observations at the Red Planet in January 2004, and since then it has been delivering an incredible amount of scientific results. The ‘Express’ part of the name highlights the fact that the spacecraft was built more quickly than any other comparable planetary mission. In fact, it took only five years from mission approval to launch. In addition to global studies of the surface, subsurface and atmosphere of Mars with unprecedented spatial and spectral resolution, the unifying theme of the Mars Express mission from orbit is the search for water in its various states, everywhere on the planet by all its seven instruments using different techniques. danielscuka 2013-02-25T09:21:02Z About this blog http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/988 Welcome to the Mars Express Blog! This blog is operated by ESA - the European Space Agency - as an unofficial and in-depth source of information for the general public. Click on 'Full story' for important information and disclaimer. The 'Mars Express Blog' is updated by editors from the ESA Web team with input from mission controllers, engineers, scientists and senior managers at ESA and our partners working at throughout Europe. The team here will certainly do their best to get you the best information possible, as soon as possible! Nonetheless, the Mars Express Blog is provided strictly on an unofficial, 'best-effort' basis and ESA makes no warranty that the comments, opinions or information expressed in this blog are confirmed, accurate, official or in any way reflect the formal policies of the European Space Agency. For the latest confirmed information relating to any ESA activity, do not hesitate to check the main ESA Web portal (<a href="http://www.esa.int/" target="_blank">http://www.esa.int</a>) or contact one of our media and public information offices. Public comments We welcome your comments, feedback and questions - you'll find the comment box at the foot of every blog post. We'll do our best to answer your questions within a reasonable amount of time. Off-topic comments will be deleted. About us 2010-02-10T16:06:26Z danielscuka Contributors http://webservices.esa.int/blog/post/7/977 We asked the team working on the Mars Express Blog to introduce themselves. Stuart Clark <img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/previews/stuclrkimagesmall.gif" border="0" alt="Stuart Clark" align="left" /> Stuart is senior editor for space science on ESA's web portal team. He has a PhD in astrophysics and is an award-winning author. His books include The Sun Kings, Galaxy, Deep Space and Big Questions: Universe. As well as covering the very latest developments in space science for ESA, he is a regular voice on BBC radio and various podcasts. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, a Visiting Fellow of the University of Hertfordshire and a former vice-chair of the Association of British Science Writers. Web: <a href="http://www.stuartclark.com" target="_blank">www.stuartclark.com</a> Twitter: @DrStuClark     Daniel Scuka <a id="res_5071" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/6/5071-daniel_scuka_esoc.jpg"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/6/previews/5071-daniel_scuka_esoc.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo of Daniel Scuka" align="left" /></a>Originally from Toronto, Canada, Daniel Scuka has worked as Web editor at ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, since 2004. As part of the ESA Web portal team, he reports on spacecraft operations and covers activities at ESOC and other ESA establishments. He has blogged extensively for ESA, contributing to the Mars Express VMC Blog, the Rosetta Blog covering several Earth swing-bys and the Steins fly-by, the Columbus delivery mission blog in February 2008 and the ATV Blog covering launch, docking and reentry in 2008.   <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000"> Thomas Ormston <a id="res_5073" href="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/6/thomas_ormston_esoc.jpg"><img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/6/previews/thomas_ormston_esoc.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo of Thomas Ormston" align="left" /></a>Thomas' hometown is Winchester, United Kingdom. He came to ESA after finishing a master's degree in physics and space research at the University of Birmingham. He started at ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany, with ESA's Young Graduate Trainee scheme in 2005, continuing afterwards as a contractor. Throughout this time he's been a Spacecraft Operations Engineer on Mars Express and is mainly responsible for monitoring the health of the satellite's power and telecommunications systems. Thomas also co-moderates VMC Mars Webcam Blog; he led the project to bring the VMC back into service in 2007 and now coordinates the camera's activities. He takes care of planning VMC observations and posting the resulting images here on the blog. He also deals with any technical issues or questions relating to VMC.   <span style="border-collapse: separate; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-family: Verdana; color: #000000"> Hannes Griebel <img src="http://webservices.esa.int/blog/gallery/7/HsG.jpg" alt="Hannes Griebel" align="left" />Hannes graduated as a spacecraft systems engineer from the Technical University of Munich in 2002 and received his PhD from the University of the Federal Armed Forces of Germany in 2010. He joined the Mars Express flight control team as a Spacecraft Operations Engineer and Mission Planning Engineer in August, 2009. He is responsible for planning and coordinating spacecraft activities.       About us 2010-02-03T17:57:50Z danielscuka