Posted by tourdemars to Mars Express at January 23, 2004 12:00 PM

Direct measurement of water on the surface of Mars - in the form of ice on the southern polar cap - tops the list of the first scientific data returned by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express mission. Principal investigators of the spacecraft's six instruments, turned on since 5 January, presented their results at a press conference in Darmstadt, Germany on Friday.