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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A spiral-shaped dust storm is visible in this image taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) imager on Mars Express. The mission tracked a series of storms during springtime at the North Pole of the Red Planet in 2019. As the ice-capped pole recedes during spring, intense local storms of dust often brew.
The storms grew and disappeared in cycles over a period of days. This image, taken on 26 May 2019, depicts the formation of a spiral shape whose main arm is approximately 2000 km in length.
A granular pattern of dust cells is visible in the storm, formed by a process called closed-cell convection. This type of convection is also responsible for some cloud patterns on Earth.