Let's get started with a thread about the mission I work for, #MarsExpress! 🔴🛰️ Mars Express (MEX) is almost 17 yrs old, making it the 2nd oldest currently active Mars mission (Mars Odyssey is the oldest). This is an artist's impression of MEX around Mars (credit: ESA/Medialab) 
MEX actually has its origins in the failed Russian Mars 96 mission. This mission included several instruments provided by European countries, but unfortunately it burned up in Earth's atmosphere due to a malfunction (details: solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/mars-…). Below is '96 in assembly 🛰️
So, Mars 96 never made it to Mars 😞 however! European countries, particularly 🇫🇷 + 🇩🇪, had put a lot of work into making instruments for Mars 96, and ESA was keen for a Mars mission after the successful landing of NASA Pathfinder in 1997. And so through this, MEX was born 🛰️
#MarsExpress, so-called 'express' bc of the relative speed with which it was conceived & built, re-used some of the instrument designs from Mars 96, & the development was also based on ESA's Rosetta mission. All of this made MEX much cheaper than previous planetary missions 💵
MEX launched in 2003 + entered into Mars orbit in Dec 2003. The mission also included a British exobiology 🦠 lander (pictured) called Beagle 2 (which is important for @esamarswebcam- more on that later 😉). Unfortunately, it failed on landing. But MEX the orbiter prevailed! 🦾
MEX launched with 7 instruments: a high resolution camera 📸, 3 spectrometers 🔎, radar 📡, radio science 📻 & a neutral atoms analyser ⚛️. In 2016, @esamarswebcam was 'upgraded' to part of the scientific payload, so now it has 8! (more on VMC tomorrow 📷) esa.int/Science_Explor…
#MarsExpress science results cover many different aspects of Mars: the subsurface, surface, atmosphere, ionosphere, & plasma environment. Below is a recent image from the high-resolution camera, HRSC 📸(credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin). I'll come back to the science later this week!
The #MarsExpress team of scientists & engineers is distributed across Europe (+ the world!). Those flying the mission are in 🇩🇪 at ESOC. Science operations (the team I'm part of) is based at ESAC in 🇪🇸. More info about who's involved & from where is here: sci.esa.int/web/mars-expre…
It takes hundreds of people to run a planetary science mission, especially one that's been going for as long as MEX has. I'm a relatively new addition, but some of my teammates have been involved with the mission for over a decade. And #MarsExpress is still going strong! 🔴🛰️
You can keep up to date with MEX news here: esa.int/Science_Explor…. I'll get into more abt @esamarswebcam, my work, & some highlights from the mission throughout the week. If you have any questions about #MarsExpress at any point, please ask away! 😀
So tldr; the #MarsExpress mission is an ESA Mars orbiter misson that is almost 17 years old and still going, & I'm very happy to be part of it! 🛰️
