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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This oblique perspective view shows the southern flanks of Ascraeus Mons, the second-tallest volcano on Mars.
A number of weaving depressions can be seen from this perspective; these are fissures and ‘coalesced pit crater troughs’, features where strings of circular or near-circular depressions have combined and coalesced to form troughs. They are part of a group of features – including lava flows and channel-like rilles – collectively named Ascraeus Chasmata, which encompasses an enormous patch of collapsed terrain over 70 km across.
This image was generated from the digital terrain model and the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express.