Mars Express Captures Volcanic Ash Spreading Across Utopia Planitia Over Five Decades

Mars Express Captures Volcanic Ash Spreading Across Utopia Planitia Over Five Decades

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2026 ESA's Mars Express has captured a blanket of dark volcanic ash creeping across the Martian surface in just decades, a rate of change that stands in stark contrast to the geological timescales that typically govern visible transformation on the Red Planet. A new image from Mars Express's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) shows a scene of two halves, with Mars's bright tan-coloured sands