Mars Express

Mars Express is an orbiting space probe examining the composition and history of Mars’ surface, as well as its interaction with the atmosphere. The mission was the European Space Agency’s first planetary probe. Mars Express originally consisted of an orbiter, the Mars Express Orbiter, and a lander, Beagle 2. Beagle 2 was a British spacecraft intended to search for extinct Martian life, or at minimum, if the planet was ever host to environmental conditions that could at one time have supported life. After being deployed from the orbiter, Beagle 2’s signal was never heard from again and was soon after declared lost. In late 2014, the MRO space probe discovered the remains of Beagle 2. The Mars Express Orbiter continues to successfully study the planet, identifying glacial landforms, investigating ancient volcanoes, mapping Mars’ moon, Phobos, and producing a near-complete topological map of the surface.