Mars Express is the European Space Agency's first mission to the Red Planet. The spacecraft is investigating the history of water on Mars and mapping the planet in unprecedented detail.

Mars Express orbiter

The orbiter is making a detailed investigation of the Martian surface and atmosphere. Instruments are monitoring gas concentrations in the atmosphere and the processes that drive Martian dust storms. Mars Express will map the entire Martian surface, producing full colour, 3-dimensional images. Mars Express is also finding out what happened to the water that once flowed across the Martian surface. It is measuring how much water has been lost to interplanetary space and using Radar to look beneath the surface for underground lakes and ice. 

Beagle 2

Beagle 2 was designed to look for the chemical signatures of life in Martian soil and investigate the atmospheric conditions and geology of the landing site.   Beagle 2 was unfortunately lost on landing. However, its ground-breaking miniaturisation technology will be used on future missions.

UK Involvement

UK scientists are involved in three of the instruments carried by the Mars Express orbiter. Beagle 2 was designed and built primarily in the UK. For more details, click on the UK involvement map.

Mars Express Links

Mars Express mission homepage

Beagle 2 homepage

Mullard Space Science Laboratory's Mars Express page

Mullard Space Science Laboratory's Beagle 2 pages

Nine Planets introduction to Mars