It is a memorable milestone. ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft completed 25,000 orbits of Planet Mars. And it celebrates it with a spectacular panoramic view. Capture many of its imposing volcanoes and even the moon Phobos.
Mars Express arrived at Mars at the end of 2003. In these two decades it mapped the atmosphere more completely than ever before. He also traced the history of water on the surface of Mars, and studied the two small Martian moons in unprecedented detail. And it continues to provide impressive views of the planet in three dimensions, reports the ESA.

Impressive details
This new image is no exception. It focuses on the Tharsis region, which covers approximately a quarter of the planet’s surface. It is home to the famous and colossal volcanoes of Mars. Many volcanoes can be seen here: Olympus Mons is the largest and reaches almost 22 km high. In comparison, Everest reaches 8.8 km.
Mars Express has also captured an unexpected visitor on Mars’ largest moon, Phobos. It appears as a dark spot that passes towards the lower left. Phobos orbits just 6,000 km from the surface of Mars. Our own moon is located about 385,000 kilometers from the Earth’s surface.
Some climatic features can be seen at the bottom of the box. There, a blue tint creeps into this otherwise sand-toned scene. The colorful bands are clouds: a small, bright band of clouds on the right and billowing “leeward wave” clouds on the left.

Future surprises
Lee wave clouds arise when air currents flow over an obstacle in the terrain below. For example, a raised ridge. They get a burst of speed in the process. The air then forms a wavy feature on the protected (leeward) side of the ridge.
The Mars Express completed 25 thousand orbits of Planet Mars and still continues to surprise us.