ESA livestream from Mars: How does it work and how to watch

The Mars Express has been orbiting the Red Planet for the past twenty years making incredible discoveries as mankind contemplates visiting the fourth rock from the Sun in person. The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Wednesday that it will be giving the public a chance to experience what it’s like to peer down on the rusty orb. For one hour starting at 12:00 pm ET you can tune into the ESA’s YouTube channel for the event.

You can also follow along on the ESA Operations’ Twitter page where the space agency will have a live feed too. As well, you can tune in here at AS USA.

You may be interested in: NASA’s Mars 2020: What has the Perseverance Rover found in two years on Mars?

ESA livestream from Mars: How does it work

The European Space Agency explained that the livestream won’t be seamless but rather a stream of photos taken by the Express’ visual monitoring camera. New images will appear every 50 seconds that will be 18 minutes old due to the Mars’ current distance from Earth. It typically takes anywhere from a few minutes to 22 minutes for signals to travel between the two celestial bodies.

So what is the special occasion that has prompted the European Space Agency to broadcast from the Red Planet? The Mars Express has turned 20 and in recognition of its spectacular achievements the agency is sharing the chance to be amongst the first to see new pictures.

“You’ll have the chance to get as close as it’s currently possible to get to Mars,” the ESA said.