The joint mission of ExoMars of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia for the first time transmitted the images that the TGO was able to take on November 22, during the first close flyby of the Red Planet spacecraft.
The specialists managed to assemble some of the new photographs into a video sequence. The images, taken just 235 kilometers from the surface, clearly show the details of the surface of Mars. Other photographs were taken while the spacecraft was still flying thousands of kilometers from Mars.
The video clearly shows craters, mountains and dark streaks dotting various regions, including one known as Arsia Chasmata, nearby the large Martian volcano Arsia Mons.
According to reports from the European Space Agency (ESA), the most stunning image is a photo of a crater within the circumference of an even larger crater in the equatorial region of Mars:
“We are very happy and proud to see all the instruments perform so well in orbit on Mars, this first impression gives a fantastic overview of what we will get when we start collecting data late next year,” the statement said.
In 2020, ESA and Roscosmos are planning to launch another ExoMars mission, which is expected to deliver the rover and landing platform to the planet's surface. This mission will be dedicated to drilling the surface of the Red Planet in order to search for signs of life.
