Mars Express is a
space exploration mission being conducted by the
European Space Agency (ESA). The
Mars Express mission is exploring the planet
Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the
spacecraft was designed and built. However "Express" also describes the spacecraft's relatively short interplanetary voyage, a result of being launched when the orbits of Earth and Mars brought them closer than they had been in about 60,000 years.