Friday

Mars Express has been exploring Mars since late 2003 giving us fascinating views of the red planet as well as unique science insights. In particular, our knowledge of the plasma region that encompasses the upper atmosphere (>100 km), ionosphere (100-500 km), induced magnetosphere and solar wind, has dramatically changed as a result of the observations made by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) since mid-2005, the Analyzer of Space Plasma and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-3), and the radio science instruments.

The UK has played major roles in the development of some of these instruments, as well as on the data exploitation and science leadership. For this latter case, the leading role of the Mars Upper Atmosphere Network, which started in 2009, has been especially important in improving the Mars Express plasma data coverage and coordination of the different operating instruments, as well as with other missions such as MAVEN in dedicated campaigns.

In this presentation, I will review key science results from the Mars Express mission to date, especially focusing on the plasma science and on the large UK contribution to the Mars Express success and to our Martian knowledge. I will conclude with a look forward to propose future missions to Mars.