Mars Express Delivers Ultra-High-Res View of a 1,300-km Martian Flood Channel
ESA’s Mars Express released high-resolution imagery of Shalbatana Vallis, a 1,300-km channel on Mars formed by ancient groundwater floods about 3.5 billion years ago. The new views reveal chaotic terrain, wrinkle ridges, volcanic ash deposits, buried craters, and other geological details that shed light on Mars’s watery past and the possibility of ancient oceans near Chryse Planitia. The mission has mapped the planet in detail since 2003 and is expected to continue operations through 2034.