Mars Express

The MARSIS instrument on Mars Express was originally designed to study the internal structure of Mars. As a result, it was designed for use at the typical distance between the spacecraft and the planet’s surface – more than 250 km.
But it recently received a major software upgrade that allows it to be used at much closer distances and which could help to shed light on the mysterious origin of the moon Phobos.
“During this flyby, we used MARSIS to study Phobos from as close as 83 km,” says Andrea Cicchetti from the MARSIS team at INAF. “Getting closer allows us to study its structure in more detail and identify important features we would never have been able to see from further away. In future, we are confident we could use MARSIS from closer than 40 km. The orbit of Mars Express has been fine-tuned to get us as close to Phobos as possible during a handful of flybys between 2023 and 2025, which will give us great opportunities to try.”
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https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/A_close_encounter_with_a_mysterious_moon
 
Mars Express carried the British Beagle 2 lander that was supposed to have looked for life but sadly never made contact with Earth, they eventually found out that some of the solar panels did not open right. Though it is surprising that Mars Express has lasted this long despite the fact that it never had RTGs supplying power having solar panels instead.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1996167143428116892
View: https://twitter.com/esascience/status/1996167143428116892?s=20
[Dec. 3]

Our #MarsExpress spots a strange shape on Mars, formed as a space rock collided with the planet's dusty surface.

It's known as a 'butterfly crater' but we see a walnut, an insect, the Eye of Sauron, or perhaps a moth... what do you think?

More info and images https://esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/A_martian_butterfly_flaps_its_wings
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