Fly over Xanthe Terra with Mars Express – YouTube
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If you’ve ever desired to wander about on Mars, this is your chance: You have the opportunity to journey over a canyon reminiscent of a labyrinth on the Red Planet through a gorgeous new video from the European Space Agency (ESA).
“A main attraction of the journey is a 1300 km [808-mile]-long discharge channel referred to as Shalbatana Vallis,” they detailed. “It plummets from the raised section of Xanthe Terra to the more even plains of Chryse Planitia. Eons ago, water flowed rapidly through this waterway, leading to the creation of numerous features noticeable today. The voyage ends with a striking depiction of a 100 km [62-mile]-wide impact site, blasted out of the Martian crust during a collision with a spaceborne rock.”
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Xanthe Terra received its designation from the International Astronomical Union in 1979, subsequent to detailed mapping of Mars via spacecraft of that period. The denomination approximates to “golden-yellow land,” according to DLR, the German space agency, which provided funding for the camera’s equipment.
Attentive viewers will observe the flight traversing the “Martian dichotomy boundary,” in which the numerous impact sites of the southern uplands progressively level out into the smoother expanses of the northern lowlands, DLR detailed in a separate notice. Researchers are still uncertain as to why this division is in place.
The video also showcases outflow channels that “are broad, profoundly cut ravine compositions potentially created in Mars’ bygone geologic history amidst devastating overflow occurrences implicating tremendous volumes of water,” DLR representatives shared. This etching may have transpired as thermal activity melted subterranean ice deposits.
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The Mars Express camera scrutinizes Martian geology in its role within the wider quest to discover life, DLR officials included in the notification.
Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2003, for what was originally meant to be a two-year term. The spacecraft is still in good condition after exceeding 20 years of functioning, and it has gained multiple term extensions in light of its scientific contributions.
“Even though it might be aging, it is still revealing the secrets of the Red Planet, which holds implications for how we comprehend our own world,” ESA officials expressed in 2023 regarding the extended mission.
Elizabeth HowellLive Science Contributor
Elizabeth Howell was a staff writer at Space.com from 2022 to 2024 and a consistent contributor to Live Science and Space.com from 2012 through 2022. Elizabeth’s articles encompass numerous exclusives with the White House, conversations with individuals aboard the International Space Station, witnessing five human space launches spanning two continents, test flights in parabolic aircraft, working in spacesuits, and taking part in a mock Mars mission. Her recent publication, “Why Am I Taller?” (ECW Press, 2022) is co-authored alongside astronaut Dave Williams.
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