Mars - Mars Express

The Mars Express mission is the first mission to Mars by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was timed to put the spacecraft in flight near the time of Mars's perihelic opposition.

In June 2003 the spacecraft was launched toward Mars from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan. A Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket was used as the launch vehicle. The spacecraft included two parts—an orbiter and a lander named Beagle 2. The lander name was chosen in honor of the ship on which Charles Darwin (1809–92) traveled during the 1830s while exploring South America and the Pacific region on Earth.

In late November 2003 the Mars Express reached the planet's vicinity and prepared to go into orbit. On December 19, 2003, the Beagle 2 was released from the orbiter. Six days later the lander entered the Martian atmosphere on its way to a landing site at Isidis Planitia (Plains of Isis). Isis was the Egyptian goddess of heaven and fertility. The ESA lost contact with Beagle 2 as it descended toward the planet. Repeated attempts to reestablish contact were made over the next few months, but were not successful.

The Mars Express orbiter achieved orbit to begin its mission of collecting planetary data. As of 2006 it was still operating. The orbiter carries seven instruments designed to investigate the Martian atmosphere and geological structure and to search for subsurface water. One of the instruments (called ASPERA-3) was supplied by NASA.