Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency .
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12 Facts About Mars Express
2.
The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency.
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3.
The design of Mars Express is based on ESA's Rosetta mission, on which a considerable sum was spent on development.
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4.
Mars Express mission is dedicated to the orbital study of the interior, subsurface, surface and atmosphere, and environment of the planet Mars.
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5.
The scientific objectives of the Mars Express mission represent an attempt to fulfill in part the lost scientific goals of the Russian Mars 96 mission, complemented by exobiology research with Beagle-2.
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6.
Mars Express exploration is crucial for a better understanding of the Earth from the perspective of comparative planetology.
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7.
The Mars Express was the first Russian-launched probe to successfully make it out of low Earth orbit since the Soviet Union fell.
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8.
Mars Express arrived at Mars after a 400 million km journey and course corrections in September and in December 2003.
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9.
Mars Express was required to recruit a suitable team of engineers that could handle the varying tasks involved in the mission.
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10.
Since orbit insertion Mars Express has been progressively fulfilling its original scientific goals.
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11.
Mars Express orbiter is a cube-shaped spacecraft with two solar panel wings extending from opposite sides.
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12.
Three on-board systems help Mars Express maintain a very precise pointing accuracy, which is essential to allow the spacecraft to use some of the science instruments.
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