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
Go to topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
This oblique perspective view was generated from the digital terrain model and the nadir and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express. It shows a region of Mars known as Acheron Fossae. This region shows many signs of past activity, from scratch-like ditches and steep cliffs to smooth plains and tall domes formed by volcanism. Two such domes can be seen especially clearly here, located roughly at the centre and centre-right of the frame (visible as bulges rising from the surrounding terrain).
ALT-text: A perspective view of the Acheron Fossae region of Mars
Image description: The image is tan in colour. The upper third of the image shows a patch of smooth ground, while the rest is filled by a gently sloping and significantly broken-up system of ditches and trenches. These extend, roughly parallel to one another, away from the viewer and slope down to the smooth ground.