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
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
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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The two candidates for the landing site of the ESA-Roscosmos rover and surface science platform. The study area of each landing site is indicated by the black outline; the shape corresponds to the different landing ellipses defined by factors such as different launch dates within the launch window and, in the case of Mawrth Vallis, local topography constraints resulting in different landing ellipse centres depending on the launch date.
The map is colour-coded corresponding to elevation: whites and reds are higher than yellows and greens. The data was obtained by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter onboard NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor.
Both landing site candidates lie close to the transition between the cratered northern highlands and the southern lowlands of Mars. They lie just north of the equator, in a region with many channels cutting through from the southern highlands to the northern lowlands. As such, they preserve a rich record of geological history from the planet’s wetter past, billions of years ago.