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Europe’s space agency releases “best of Mars” video, showcasing 15 years of stunning satellite imagery
In a recap of its Mars Express imaging satellite’s fifteen years orbiting the red planet, the European Space Agency, NASA’s European equivalent, released a compilation video showcasing the most stunning photos captured by the craft. The animation added to the imagery gives viewers the impression of flying over the planet’s surface, taking in the depth of colors as though they were physically there themselves. With Mars in sight for near-future human exploration, ESA’s showcase gives Earth dwellers a taste of what’s to come.
The images in the collection demonstrate the great variation in geography across the cold, regolith-infused planet. Included in the photo set are the Neukum Crater, named after Gerhard Neukum, a German physicist, planetary scientist, and one of the founders of the Mars Express mission who died in 2014. The craters on Mars are generally representative of the planet’s ancient surface preserved for billions of years.
Also included is a flyover of the Kasei Valles, an “outflow channel” similar to the giant water-carved features of Earth, likely formed from a combination of tectonics, lava flow, and catastrophic flooding (potentially from the Echus Chasma, also included in the photos). Of course, ice-filled craters and the north and south polar ice caps are also included in the set, features of the planet that will be quite helpful to humans looking at long-term stays.
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- The Becquerel Crater on Mars. | Credit: ESA/Mars Express
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- The Mawrth Vallis on Mars. | Credit: ESA/Mars Express
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- The Neukum Crater on Mars. | Credit: ESA/Mars Express
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- The Kasei Valles on Mars. | Credit: ESA
To create the incredible imagery, photos taken by the Mars Express satellite during multiple passes were compiled into a mosaic. The instrument used to capture visuals is the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), and it has a resolution of about 32 feet, with some regions measured at about 6 feet of resolution. The HRSC can also create 3D imagery, capturing the planet’s topography at a level of detail that enables geoscientific evaluation of surface processes in space and time. The video compilation was assembled and edited by members of Freie Universitat Berlin’s Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing department.
Mars Express was launched on June 2, 2003 aboard a Soyuz/Fregat rocket and received its name from being the quickest built planetary mission craft of its type. Its planned mission is to image the entire surface of Mars at high resolution and produce maps of the planet’s mineral compositions and atmospheric activities. A lander named Beagle 2 had traveled along with it, but unfortunately it became inoperable after successfully landing on the surface. Its fate remained unknown until NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter located and photographed it in 2015.
-->Around winter holiday time last year, Mars Express captured images which formed the amazing “winter wonderland” photo showcasing the Korolev crater in the northern lowlands of Mars. Since the satellite entered orbit around the planet on December 25, 2003, the capture was both relevant to the craft’s history and timely for the season. Yet another geographic phenomenon was on display with this surface feature – “cold trap” – where air moving across the crater cools, becoming heavy and getting “trapped” directly above the ice.
Watch the full video released by ESA below:
News
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand.
Tesla Gigafactory Berlin has expanded to two full shifts, as per the facility’s plant manager, and a lot of it is due to Model Y demand. While registrations in some countries such as Sweden have fallen sharply this year, the company’s sales in other key territories have been rising.
Giga Berlin shifts to two shifts
Giga Berlin factory manager André Thierig told the DPA that the facility has been running two shifts since September to manage a surge in global orders. And due to the tariff dispute with the United States, vehicles that are produced at Giga Berlin are now being exported to Canada.
“We deliver to well over 30 markets and definitely see a positive trend there,” Thierig said.
Despite Giga Berlin now having two shifts, the facility’s production still needs to ramp up more. This is partly due to the addition of the Tesla Model Y Performance and Standard, which are also being produced in the Grunheide-based factory. Interestingly enough, Giga Berlin still only produces the Model Y, unlike other factories like Gigafactory Texas, the Fremont Factory, and Gigafactory Shanghai, which produce more than one type of vehicle.
Norway’s momentum
Norway, facing an imminent tax increase on cars, has seen a historic spike in Tesla purchases as buyers rush to secure deliveries before the change takes effect, as noted in a CarUp report. As per recent reports, Tesla has broken Norway’s all-time annual sales record this month, beating Volkswagen’s record that has stood since 2016.
-->What is rather remarkable is the fact that Tesla was able to achieve so much in Norway with one hand practically tied behind its back. This is because the company’s biggest sales draw, FSD, remains unavailable in the country. Fortunately, Tesla is currently hard at work attempting to get FSD approved for Europe, a notable milestone that should spur even more vehicle sales in the region.
Tesla is launching a crazy Full Self-Driving free trial, which will enable owners who have not purchased the suite outright to try it for 30 days.
There are a handful of stipulations that will be needed in order for you to qualify for the free trial, which was announced on Thursday night.
Tesla said the trial is for v14, the company’s latest version of the Full Self-Driving suite, and will be available to new and existing Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, and Cybertruck owners, who will have the opportunity to try the latest features, including Speed Profiles, Arrival Options, and other new upgrades.
🚨 Tesla is launching a free 30-day trial of Full Self-Driving in North America for owners.
It includes every model, but you need v14.2 or later, and you cannot have already purchased the suite outright. https://t.co/8CNmxxOkVl
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 27, 2025
You must own one of the five Tesla models, have Full Self-Driving v14.2 or later, and have an eligible vehicle in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, or Canada.
The company said it is a non-transferable trial, which is not redeemable for cash. Tesla is reaching out to owners via email to give them the opportunity to enable the Full Self-Driving trial.
Those who are subscribed to the monthly Full Self-Driving program are eligible, so they will essentially get a free month of the suite.
Once it is installed, the trial will begin, and the 30-day countdown will begin.
Tesla is making a major push to increase its Full Self-Driving take rate, as it revealed that about 12 percent of owners are users of the program during its recent earnings call.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said during the call:
“We feel that as people experience the supervised FSD at scale, demand for our vehicles, like Elon said, would increase significantly. On the FSD adoption front, we’ve continued to see decent progress. However, note that the total paid FSD customer base is still small, around 12% of our current fleet.”
Earlier today, we reported on Tesla also launching a small-scale advertising campaign on X for the Full Self-Driving suite, hoping to increase adoption.
Tesla Full Self-Driving warrants huge switch-up on essential company strategy
It appears most people are pretty content with the subscription program. It costs just $99 a month, in comparison to the $8,000 fee it is for the outright purchase.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has warranted a huge switch-up on an essential company strategy as the automaker is hoping to increase the take rate of the ADAS suite.
Unlike other automotive companies, Tesla has long been an outlier, as it has famously ditched a traditional advertising strategy in favor of organic buzz, natural word-of-mouth through its production innovation, and utilizing CEO Elon Musk’s huge social media presence to push its products.
Tesla has taken the money that it would normally spend on advertising and utilized it for R&D purposes. For a long time, it yielded great results, and ironically, Tesla saw benefits from other EV makers running ads.
Tesla counters jab at lack of advertising with perfect response
However, in recent years, Tesla has decided to adjust this strategy, showing a need to expand beyond its core enthusiast base, which is large, but does not span over millions and millions as it would need to fend off global EV competitors, which have become more well-rounded and a better threat to the company.
In 2024 and 2025, Tesla started utilizing ads to spread knowledge about its products. This is continuing, as Full Self-Driving ads are now being spotted on social media platforms, most notably, X, which is owned by Musk:
NEWS: Tesla is running paid advertisements on X about FSD (Supervised). Here’s an ad they started running yesterday: pic.twitter.com/IHVywLMyTd
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) November 25, 2025
Interestingly, Tesla’s strategy on FSD advertising is present in Musk’s new compensation package, as the eleventh tranche describes a goal of achieving 10 million active paid FSD subscriptions.
Full Self-Driving is truly Tesla’s primary focus moving forward, although it could be argued that it also has a special type of dedication toward its Optimus robot project. However, FSD will ultimately become the basis for the Robotaxi, which will enable autonomous ride-sharing across the globe as it is permitted in more locations.
Tesla has been adjusting its advertising strategy over the past couple of years, and it seems it is focused on more ways to spread awareness about its products. It will be interesting to see if the company will expand its spending even further, as it has yet to put on a commercial during live television.
We wouldn’t put it out of the question, at least not yet.
Tesla Giga Berlin is still ramping production to meet Model Y demand: plant manager
Tesla launches crazy Full Self-Driving free trial: here’s how you can get it
