Editing Mars Express (section)

==== 2020 ====
*Between March and April 2020, ''Mars Express'' (along with other interplanetary missions by ESA) was briefly placed into a largely unattended safe configuration with science instruments turned off due to the worsening [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and the need to reduce on-site personnel at [[European Space Operations Centre|ESOC]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESA scales down science mission operations amid pandemic |url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/ESA_scales_down_science_mission_operations_amid_pandemic |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.esa.int |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Space missions return to science |url=https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Space_missions_return_to_science |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.esa.int |language=en}}</ref>
*In September 2020, a discovery was reported based on MARSIS radar studies, of [[Water on Mars#Subglacial liquid water|three more subglacial lakes]] on Mars, {{convert|1.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} below the [[Planum Australe|southern polar ice cap]]. The size of the first lake found, and the largest, has been corrected to {{convert|30|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide. It is surrounded by 3 smaller lakes, each a few kilometres wide.<ref name="NatAstro">{{cite journal |last1=Lauro |first1=Sebastian Emanuel |last2=Pettinelli |first2=Elena |last3=Caprarelli |first3=Graziella |last4=Guallini |first4=Luca |last5=Rossi |first5=Angelo Pio |last6=Mattei |first6=Elisabetta |last7=Cosciotti |first7=Barbara |last8=Cicchetti |first8=Andrea |last9=Soldovieri |first9=Francesco |last10=Cartacci |first10=Marco |last11=Di Paolo |first11=Federico |last12=Noschese |first12=Raffaella |last13=Orosei |first13=Roberto |title=Multiple subglacial water bodies below the south pole of Mars unveiled by new MARSIS data |journal=Nature Astronomy |date=September 28, 2020 |volume=5 |pages=63–70 |doi=10.1038/s41550-020-1200-6 |publisher=Springer Nature Limited |arxiv=2010.00870 |s2cid=222125007 |issn=2397-3366}}</ref>
*A study published in December 2020 in [[JGR Planets|''JGR Planets'']] utilized the wide field of view of the [[Visual Monitoring Camera]], in combination with other instruments on ''Mars Express'' and other orbiters, to describe the life cycle of a large elongated [[orographic cloud]] that grows and fades on a daily basis during spring and summer over [[Arsia Mons]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hernández-Bernal |first=J. |last2=Sánchez-Lavega |first2=A. |last3=del Río-Gaztelurrutia |first3=T. |last4=Ravanis |first4=E. |last5=Cardesín-Moinelo |first5=A. |last6=Connour |first6=K. |last7=Tirsch |first7=D. |last8=Ordóñez-Etxeberria |first8=I. |last9=Gondet |first9=B. |last10=Wood |first10=S. |last11=Titov |first11=D. |last12=Schneider |first12=N. M. |last13=Hueso |first13=R. |last14=Jaumann |first14=R. |last15=Hauber |first15=E. |date=2021 |title=An Extremely Elongated Cloud Over Arsia Mons Volcano on Mars: I. Life Cycle |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020JE006517 |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |language=en |volume=126 |issue=3 |pages=e2020JE006517 |doi=10.1029/2020JE006517 |issn=2169-9100}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mars Express unlocks the secrets of curious cloud |url=https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Mars_Express_unlocks_the_secrets_of_curious_cloud |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.esa.int |language=en}}</ref> A follow-up study published in 2022 used [[computational modeling]] to describe the physical mechanisms behind the cloud's formation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hernández-Bernal |first=J. |last2=Spiga |first2=A. |last3=Sánchez-Lavega |first3=A. |last4=del Río-Gaztelurrutia |first4=T. |last5=Forget |first5=F. |last6=Millour |first6=E. |date=2022 |title=An Extremely Elongated Cloud Over Arsia Mons Volcano on Mars: 2. Mesoscale Modeling |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022JE007352 |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets |language=en |volume=127 |issue=10 |pages=e2022JE007352 |doi=10.1029/2022JE007352 |issn=2169-9100}}</ref>