ESA (European Space Agency) is making history. ESA broadcasts live footage from the planet Mars for the first time in history.

“On Friday, to celebrate the 20th birthday of ESA’s Mars Express, (unmanned interplanetary mission to Mars) you will have the opportunity to get as close as you can right now to a live view of Mars” reports the European Space Agency, among others.

“Usually we see images from Mars and know they were taken a few days ago. “I’m excited to see Mars as it is now as close as we can get to ‘now’ with Mars data.” pointed out the head of the ESA Control Center in Germany, James Godfrey.

Usually images from devices orbiting Mars or on its surface are stored and sent in a “packet” to Earth at regular intervals.

Because of the distance from Earth to Mars, the image takes 13-22 minutes to reach Earth, depending on where the two planets are in their orbits around the Sun. ESA estimates it will take almost 17 minutes.

Mars Express

Ares is the fourth in distance from the Sun planet of our Solar System, the second closest to Earth, and the seventh in size and mass of the Solar System (the second smallest after Mercury). It is often called the “red planet” because of the red color it presents, due to the iron trioxide (Fe2O3) on its surface. Mars is a “terrestrial planet” with a thin and thin atmosphere, and a surface that combines the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth. It even seems to have periodically recurring ‘seasons’. Mars also has Mount Olympus, the highest known mountain in our Solar System, and Marineris Valley, the largest valley. The Borealis Deep, located in the northern hemisphere of the planet, covers 40% of its surface and is the remnant of a giant collision. In its orbit around the Sun, it is accompanied by two small satellites: Phobos and Deimos (= Terror).

In September 2015, NASA announced that it had evidence that proved the existence of liquid water on the planet.

Mars

A composite of nine images of Mars taken by Mars Express in 2016