Posted: Wed, Dec 3, 2003, 9:57 AM ET (1457 GMT)
ESA released Wednesday the first image of Mars taken by its Mars Express spacecraft, scheduled to enter orbit around the planet later this month. The image was taken Monday by the spacecraft's High Resolution Stereo Camera when it was 5.5 million kilometers from the planet. Mars Express, ESA’s first mission to Mars, is scheduled to go into orbit around the planet on December 25. A separate lander, Beagle 2, will detach from the spacecraft six days earlier and land on the night of December 24-25.

Related Links:

•  ESA press release
•  AP article
•  BBC article