Stunning detail captured in Mars pictures

STUNNING pictures taken of the surface of Mars by an orbiting European spacecraft were released yesterday.

The latest 3D images from Mars Express show winding valleys, deep gorges, cliffs, craters and table-top mountains.

Details as fine as dust blowing over the rims of craters are revealed, and some features clearly indicate erosion caused by flowing water long ago in the planet's past.

One of the most dramatic pictures shows the giant mouth of a volcano, Albor Tholus, taken from the viewpoint of an observer approaching it in a low-flying aircraft.

Dr John Murray, a member of the stereo camera imaging team from the Department of Earth Sciences at the Open University, said:

"The pictures are absolutely spectacular. If it were Earth, large buildings like Buckingham Palace would definitely be visible, and certainly roads.

"These are not snapshots but panoramic images in a 65km-wide strip that goes on as long as you like. We can look forwards and down, and backwards, and reconstruct the stereo image into a virtual model.

"The astounding thing is although some of them might look like paintings, these are real images, not artist's impressions.

"You get real information, for instance you can measure the altitude of every point very accurately. It's more detailed than what you had in an Ordnance Survey map 20 years ago."

He was convinced the images would settle any remaining doubt about whether there was ever water on Mars. Too many of the features could only have been created by flowing water, Dr Murray said.

One image showed an area of the surface that had collapsed, almost certainly because of ice melting beneath it. Channels flowed out from the feature and appeared to empty into a wide, low plain.

Another prominent feature, Reull Vallis, showed a vast winding valley as wide as the English Channel, which appeared to have dark sediment on its floor.

"It has to be water," said Dr Murray.

A wealth of scientific data is also streaming back from the orbiter's other instruments. Initial mapping of the southern polar cap has confirmed the presence of ice and frozen carbon dioxide.

Scientists have also been able to see for the first time how water is being lost from the Martian atmosphere.

Dr Murray said that he was looking forward to Mars Express taking pictures of some of the most famous Martian features, such as Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the solar system which is three times higher than Mount Everest.

It should also be possible to measure the thickness of the ice caps and tell whether or not they are retreating, he said.

The information could provide scientists with a better understanding of global warming on Earth.

Meanwhile, NASA received data from the Spirit rover yesterday morning for the first time in two days, easing scientists' anxiety that the Mars mission had come to a calamitous halt.

The six-wheeled rover communicated for 10 minutes at about 4:30am and transmitted "limited data" for 20 minutes about an hour later, officials said in statements early yesterday.

"The spacecraft sent limited data in a proper response to a ground command, and we're planning for commanding further communication sessions later," said Pete Theisinger, rover project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Engineers are eager to pore over data from Spirit to assess the health of the spacecraft, pinpoint any problems and allow NASA to begin working on a potential fix or fixes.

Officials said that the signals were received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna complex near Madrid.