Mars live stream: Watch spacecraft stream images from red planet in first-its-kind event

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·2 min read
1

The European Space Agency will attempt its first-ever live stream of images from Mars for one hour on Friday, giving space enthusiasts a live close-up view of the red planet for the first time ever.

"You’ll have the chance to get as close as it’s currently possible get to Mars," the intergovernmental organization of space exploration said.

The agency will live stream images from the Mars Express, a spacecraft that first launched 20 years ago, ESA announced.

Because of the vast distance between Mars and Earth, the stream won't be quite as "live" as, say, the NBA Finals broadcast. The ESA says light traveling from Mars can take anywhere from 3 to 22 minutes to reach Earth, based on the two planets' orbital position.

Here's what to know about the live stream event.

Mars live stream start time, how to watch

The stream begins at 12 p.m. ET and will show new images every 50 seconds as they shoot through the Express’ Visual Monitoring Camera, a "long-lived but-still-highly-productive" Martian orbiter, per the ESA.

You can watch the live stream at the embed at the top of this page or on USA TODAY's YouTube channel. The ESA will also provide a stream.

Catch live updates on Twitter (@esaoperations) and with the hashtag #MarsLIVE.

Mars rover finds signs of water: Chinese Mars rover finds signs of recent water activity on planet

See what a home on Mars could look like: NASA unveils artificial habitat for future missions

Happy Birthday, Mars Express!

The live stream event takes place as space fans celebrate Mars Express' 20th birthday.

"In its long life, #MarsExpress has thrown a cornucopia of problems at our teams," the agency posted on Twitter. "From issues with solar arrays, radar deployments.... memory problems, aging batteries, a close encounter with a comet and dilapidated gyros."

"Despite all of this (and more), #Mars Express has lived 18 years longer than planned," the agency said.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mars live stream: Images from ESA Mars Express spacecraft broadcast