The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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This image of the Richat structure in Mauritania was acquired on 21 June 2003 by Envisat's Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) in full resolution mode, meaning a spatial resolution of 300 metres.
The 50-km-diameter circular Richat structure is one of those geological features that are more clearly observed from space than from down on the ground, with this 'eye of Africa' a familiar landmark to astronauts since the earliest manned missions.
Once thought to be the result of a meteor impact, today researchers believe the Richat structure was caused by process of geological uplift followed by erosion from wind and water.