Planetary Society logo
  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan
Mars Express Art

ESA Mars Express Team

ESA

The ESA/Mars Express Team in charge of the Mars Express (MEX) blog—a 'subteam' of the (larger) MEX Flight Control team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany—includes:

  • Daniel Scuka (editor)
  • Michel Denis (SOM)
  • Andrew David Johnstone
  • Simon Wood
  • Kees Van Der Pols
  • Luke Lucas

Latest Articles

Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring, September 2014
Comet Siding Spring Mars encounter: One Mars Express plan becomes two

The Mars Express Flight Control Team at ESOC have been actively preparing for the flyby of comet C/2013 A1/Siding Spring on October 19. Initial estimates gave the possibility that Mars Express might be hit by 2 or 3 high-speed particles. Happily, additional observations by ground and space telescopes have shown the risk to be much lower – and perhaps even as low as zero. In today's blog post, the team explain how this (happy!) real-life, real-time development is affecting their preparations for fly-by.

Mars during the 2003 opposition
Opposition time for Mars, and several months of dancing with the stars

The Mars Express team showcases some of the best viewing opportunities of Mars in 2014, including how to spot Comet Siding Spring when it flies past Mars this October.

Comet Siding Spring imaged by ESA/NASA Hubble
Comet Siding Spring Mars encounter: Cosmic bully spotted by ESA and NASA

Hubble has taken some great new images of our 'friend,' Comet Siding Spring, due to pass by Mars at less than 136,000 km on October 19 – less than half the distance between Earth and our moon.

Browse All Articles