We’ve just mailed the image sets! Phew! Please check your mail – and ensure that we have a correct valid email address for you/your team/school/group.

This is a collage of Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) images acquired on 25 May and downloaded to Earth early on 26 May 2015. They are among the first in a series of over 2000 images that are being acquired by Mars Express in support of the VMC Schools Campaign. ESA/Mars Express/VMC – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

This is a collage of Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) images acquired on 25 May and downloaded to Earth early on 26 May 2015. They are among the first in a series of over 2000 images that are being acquired by Mars Express in support of the VMC Schools Campaign. ESA/Mars Express/VMC – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

The mail you’ll get will read, in part:

The VMC image files acquired by Mars Express on 25/26 May 2015 and showing your requested target (or adequate replacements – see comment below) are now available for download as a ZIP/RAR archive via:

https://XXXXXXx

Note also: you will find a set of RAW images in each image archive; these are the original data images as recorded by the VMC on board MEX, and as retrieved on Earth. For details on working with these, VMC blog.

Email text continued

Please note the following:

In some cases, not all targets are fully centred in the middle/centre of the image. This is a function of the final choice in how Mars Express was pointed and executed the images, and allowed us to generate the highest number of images for the most requested targets.

The images provided to you via the URL above are exclusively for your use at this time. ESA will publish them later in the VMC Blog, but you can expect to have them for your sole use for the next approximately 6 weeks.

Note that in some of the ZIP/RAR archives there is a README file providing you additional information.

The image files provided to you are licensed under a CC license (see CC Terms). You are allowed to reproduce, distribute, adapt, translate and publicly display the images provided that they are accompanied by an acknowledgement that the source is credited as ‘ESA – European Space Agency’, a direct link to the licence text is provided (see example below) and that it is clearly indicated if changes were made to the original content. Adaptation/translation/derivatives must be distributed under the same licence terms as this publication.

Sample
Credit: ESA – European Space Agency, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/

Several requested imaging targets didn’t work out very well, either because of the dust or the lighting conditions, or because the image just simply doesn’t show the target well. For these, we dug through the VMC archive and provided some better-quality VMC (or other) images from past observations that do show the requested target adequately.

As part of your participation, you and your school, club or group agreed to use the images in a scientific or artistic project that makes full, imaginative use of the visual information they contain. Your project must be shared with ESA, and must be submitted within the end of the current academic year or 31 July, whichever comes first (see all details via Registrations terms).

You may share your project with us via email (vmc@esa.int) or by posting a comment here in the Mars Express blog (https://blogs.esa.int/mex).

You may send us questions via the blog at any time as well; we will endeavour to reply as soon as possible, on a time-available basis.

Best wishes and we are looking forward with tremendous excitement to seeing your projects!!!!