The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning to make history by live broadcasting from Mars for the first time. This event, which will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Mars Express mission, can be watched starting from on Friday, June 2 at 18 PM BST. Here’s what you need to know about the live broadcast from Mars.
How to watch the live broadcast from Mars?
The European Space Agency is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Mars Express mission. The live broadcast, which will last approximately one hour, will be conducted using photos sent every 50 seconds. In addition, various details will be shared on ESA’s Twitter account using the #MarsLIVE hashtag.
James Godfrey, the Spacecraft Operations Manager at ESA, indicated that this broadcast will be a milestone in space history. He said, “We know that the images we receive from Mars were taken days ago. However, seeing Mars as it is excites me.”
Although we have witnessed images of Mars many times before, the real-time aspect of this live broadcast creates a significant difference. Normally, the data from Mars is stored in the spacecraft and then transmitted to centers on Earth.
Due to the vast distance between Mars and Earth and their orbits around the Sun, data transmission can take anywhere from 3 to 22 minutes. However, today’s live broadcast will be conducted through images taken every 50 seconds.
It is estimated that the data sent from Mars to Earth will take about 17 minutes to reach us. It is also expected to spend an additional minute in the cable and server network before being presented to the viewers. We recommend not to miss the one-hour broadcast for the most up-to-date photos of Mars.