Mars livestream by ESA spacecraft interrupted by rain on Earth

It took nearly 17 minutes for each picture to reach Earth, nearly 200 million miles away, and another minute to get through the ground stations

Mars as the spacecraft approaches the planet from a distance of 3.4 million miles (European Space Agency/AP)

A European spacecraft around Mars sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth on Friday to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch, but rain in Spain caused some interference.

The European Space Agency broadcast the livestream with views courtesy of its Mars Express, launched by a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan in 2003.