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.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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A wider contextual image showing the region around the elongated crater imaged by Mars Express. To the north lies the Huygens crater, named after the famous Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer of the 17th century, Christiaan Huygens, who discovered Saturn’s moon Titan. The impact basin is about 450 km across. The elongated depression seen in the HRSC images is located near the centre, and a second elongated impact crater lies to the north-northwest of the main target. It can be seen here, just outside the orbital track, and is in alignment with the main elongated crater, reinforcing the notion that these structures were the result of a train of projectiles.