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ESA\u2019s\u00a0Mars Express\u00a0takes us on a journey across the southern highlands of Mars to\u00a0Flaugergues\u00a0Crater.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The video begins by tracking along a swathe of ground enclosed by two steeply sloping and\u00a0roughly parallel\u00a0cliffs \u2013 or escarpments \u2013 named Scylla\u00a0Scopulus\u00a0and Charybdis\u00a0Scopulus\u00a0(to the left and right, respectively). This \u2019path\u2019 of ground is\u00a0called\u00a0a\u00a0graben,\u00a0created as tectonic plates pulled apart. It\u00a0measures about 75 km wide by 1 km deep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The prominent, 150-km-wide\u00a0Bakhuysen\u00a0Crater can be seen to the left.<\/p>\n
The camera continues travelling northwards, approaching\u00a0Flaugergues\u00a0Crater in the distance. It moves along\u00a0the crater\u2019s\u00a0eastern side before circling around to the left and ending at its western rim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Flaugergues\u00a0Crater is a\u00a0roughly 240-km-wide\u00a0basin found in Mars\u2019s southern highlands, where most of the rough terrain is densely covered in craters.\u00a0Half of the crater floor is also rugged, with parts\u00a0rising up\u00a0to elevations of around 1 km. We see a valley crossing this rocky patch, which was likely shaped by flows of wind and lava.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enjoy the flight, and be sure to view\u00a0the associated map of the area, which shows the route taken by the camera and highlights the key features seen throughout the journey. These features are also\u00a0indicated\u00a0in the\u00a0voiceover.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Want to continue your airborne adventures on the Red Planet? Other Mars Express flights across the\u00a0martian\u00a0surface can take you to\u00a0Nili Fossae,\u00a0Ares Vallis,\u00a0Xanthe Terra,\u00a0Noctis\u00a0Labyrinthus, and\u00a0Jezero Crater.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How the video was made\u00a0<\/p>\n
This video is not representative of how Mars Express flies over the surface of Mars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was created using data from the Mars Express\u00a0High Resolution Stereo Camera\u00a0Mars Chart (HMC20W), an image mosaic made from single orbit observations of the mission\u2019s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). The mosaic image,\u00a0centred\u00a0at 20\u00b0S\/17\u00b0E, is combined with topography information from the digital terrain model to generate a three-dimensional landscape.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For every second of the video, 50 separate frames are\u00a0rendered\u00a0following a pre-defined camera path. The vertical exaggeration used for the animation is\u00a0three-fold. Atmospheric effects, like clouds and haze, have been added to conceal the limits of the terrain model.\u00a0The haze starts building up at\u00a0a distance of 250\u00a0km.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The HRSC camera on Mars Express is\u00a0operated\u00a0by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The systematic processing of the camera data took place at the DLR Institute for Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The working group of Planetary Science and Remote Sensing at FU Berlin used the data to create the film.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Access\u00a0the related broadcast quality footage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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