Mars Express records 5,000 orbits

DARMSTADT, Germany, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency said its Mars Express spacecraft has completed 5,000 orbits of the Red Planet since arriving there on Dec. 25, 2003.

The orbiter has revolutionized knowledge of Mars, probing every facet of the planet in unprecedented detail, the ESA said. Some of the most visually astonishing results have been returned by the craft's High-Resolution Stereo Camera, which has produced 3D color images of Mars' surface, the ESA said.

Other instruments have been examining different aspects of the planet's environment.

With the mission already extended until at least 2009 and the possibility of further extensions into the next decade, Mars Express controllers at the ESA's Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany, are fine-tuning the spacecraft's orbit.