The images of the portions of the largest system of canyons in the Solar System, Martian Valles Marineris have been captured through the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Just like other geological features on the red planet, Valles Marineris dwarfs all terrestrial analogues. Particularly, the Valles Marineris is 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep. Whereas if we compare, the Grand Canyon in North America is simply below 450 km long, 16 km wide and below 2 km deep. While when the Grand Canyon was formed by erosion by the Colorado River, the Valles Marineris was formed by tectonic plates which were moving away from one another.

HIGHLIGHTS
Valles Marineris was formed by tectonic plates moving away from each other
The Mars Express had captured pictures of two trenches
The mission was granted with a long extension until 31st December, 2022

The Mars Express had captured pictures of two trenches which usually form a part of western Valles Marineris, the 840 km long Ius Chasma, and then the 805 km long Tithonium Chasma. The satellite images which were captured usually highlights the way the top of the Tithonium is roofed with darker sand that would have come from the nearby Tharsis volcanic region.

Other observations from the Mars Express showcased the water-bearing sulphate minerals, parallel lines, and debris piles that had indicated towards a recent landslide, two mountains of 3 km tall which surrounded the sand dunes around Tithonium whose surface has got sharply eroded. The sulphate minerals are particularly attention-grabbing for scientists, as they could be considered as the proof of the actual fact that several years ago the chasma was once filled with water.

According to ESA, “The gnarly floor of Ius Chasma has been equally fascinating. As tectonic plates forced themselves to pull apart, they seemed to cause jagged triangles of rock to make it appear like a row of shark teeth. Over time, these rock formations have been seen to get collapsed eroded.”

In the year 2003, the Mars Express got arrived on Mars and has been regularly serving since 18 years and 6 months, it could be considered as the second oldest spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than Earth. The mission got an extension until 31st December, 2022, all due to its valuable science retrieval and the extremely flexible mission profile which has been able to undertake.

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