Mars Express is the first mission of ESA (European Space Agency) to the red planet. It is also the first European mission to any planet. First "flexible-mission" in the scientific program of ESA, it was developed in record time: it took only 5 years from concept to launch. Using the technology developed for the Mars-96 and Rosetta missions at ESA, Mars Express answers and will answer, once the data collected and processed, fundamental questions that we ask ourselves about the geology of Mars, the atmosphere, the environment, the surface, the history of water and possible life on Mars.

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