Hey, Kids! Want to Take Pictures From Mars Orbit?

The scientific payload on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter is taking a few days off in May — and during that time, ESA is going to let kids have their say over how one of the cameras on the spacecraft should be used. Schools, clubs and other youth groups have until March 27 to put in their requests.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

The coordinates for the selected imaging targets will be beamed up for picture-taking sessions that Mars Express' Visual Monitoring Camera, or VMC, will execute between May 25 to 27. The low-resolution VMC, also known as the Mars Webcam, is not a scientific instrument as such. Its primary purpose was to provide visual confirmation of the ill-fated Beagle 2 lander's separation from the main spacecraft in 2003. But since then, VMC has sent back loads of wonderful pictures that end up on the camera team's blog and Flickr gallery.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Science operations will be suspended during those three days in May, due to a solar conjunction that interferes with orbiter-to-Earth radio communication. That means the VMC is free to be pointed at almost any Martian target. There'll be eight or so observation slots available, ESA says.

The resulting pictures will be downloaded to Earth on May 28 and delivered to the winning teams electronically. It's up to those teams to create a scientific or artistic project that makes creative use of the imagery. ESA plans to share the projects with the world via the VMC blog. For more information about the campaign, check out ESA's news release and the eligibility details.

• Add to Google

Why Is Mars Red?

00:43

IN-DEPTH

• 10 Years After Launch, Mars Express Keeps Going
• ESA Antenna Picks Up Its First Picture From Mars
• Students Seek Funding for 'Time Capsule to Mars'

SOCIAL

— Alan Boyle

ESA licenses VMC imagery under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license.