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 image shows frost-fringed polygonal terrain on a cold springtime morning in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars as seen by the CaSSIS (Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System) instrument on ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The polygons form due to repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
The data for this image were captured by CaSSIS on 21 June 2020. It is centred at 55°S, 67°E near Dorsa Brevia. North is to the top of the image.
This image is included in a new release from ESA’s Mars Express, which also highlighted these cryptic features on the martian surface. The full CaSSIS image is available here with file name MY35_011497_286_0.
[Image description: A slice of the martian surface shown in grey shades and lit from the lower left. The centre-right of the image is dominated by a circular, partially eroded crater filled with frosty white intersecting lines that create near-rectangular and other irregular polygonal shapes. This texture is also seen elsewhere in the scene.]