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[[File:Beagle-2-separation.png|thumbnail|Beagle 2 separation]]
[[File:Elysium Planitia labelled view.jpg|thumb|Global view of planet Mars, with [[Elysium Planitia]], where [[InSight]] landed in 2018, and Gale crater, where Curiosity landed in 2012 noted along with the North polar cap]]
The '''Visual Monitoring Camera''' ('''VMC'''),<ref name="faq">{{cite web |url=http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/faq/ |title=Mars Webcam: FAQ |website=blogs.esa.int |publisher=[[European Space Agency]]}}</ref> also known as the '''Video Monitoring Camera'''<ref name="bulletin109">{{cite journal |url=http://www.esa.int/esapub/bulletin/bullet109/chapter9_bul109.pdf |title=Studies on the Re-use of the Mars Express Platform |journal=ESA Bulletin |first1=A. |last1=Gimenez |first2=J-P. |last2=Lebreton |first3=H. |last3=Svedhem |first4=J. |last4=Tauber |issue=109 |date=February 2002|volume=109 |page=78 |bibcode=2002ESABu.109...78G }}</ref> and '''Mars Webcam''', is a small camera mounted on ''[[Mars Express]]'' spacecraft. It is operated by the Mars Express Flight Control Team at [[ESOC]] in [[Darmstadt]], Germany. Originally, VMC was a technical camera to monitor the separation of the Beagle 2 lander, but after a few years, it was repurposed into Mars Webcam, streaming its data to the web and even being used for science.
Starting in 2007, the VMC was used for the Mars Webcam project, where it takes global views of Mars at a high cadence and they are posted online.<ref name="ESA">{{cite web |title=Mars Webcam: About |url=http://blogs.esa.int/vmc/about-the-mars-webcam/ |website=blogs.esa.int |publisher=[[European Space Agency]]}}</ref> The VMC is a camera-on-chip design, using the IRIS-1 system.<ref name="ESA" /> Originally used as engineering monitoring camera for the ''[[Beagle 2]]'' lander, it has a wide 40° [[field of view]] and limited imaging controls and it has no focus mechanism.<ref name="ESA" /> In 2016, it was used for professional science in addition to its roles as a technical monitoring camera and public outreach.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mars Webcam goes pro |url=http://esa.int/Our_Activities/Operations/Mars_Webcam_goes_pro |website=esa.int |publisher=[[European Space Agency]] |date=25 May 2016}}</ref>
== History ==
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{{As of|2017|10}}, more than 21,000 images had been returned.<ref name="esa20171017">{{cite web |url=https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Webcam_on_Mars_Express_surveys_high-altitude_clouds |title=Webcam on Mars Express surveys high-altitude clouds |publisher=European Space Agency |first1=Agustin |last1=Sánchez-Lavega |first2=Dmitri |last2=Titov |first3=Markus |last3=Bauer |date=17 October 2017 |accessdate=28 July 2018}}</ref> New images are published to the camera's Flickr account in a fully automated process as they are received from the spacecraft,<ref name="planetary20121219">{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2012/12190600-mars-express-vmc.html |title=Mars Express VMC resumes raw data posting |publisher=[[The Planetary Society]] |first=Emily |last=Lakdawalla |date=19 December 2012 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref> sometimes in as little as 75 minutes from when the photograph was taken at Mars.<ref name="esa20171017" /> All images produced by the VMC are released under a [[Creative Commons]] Attribution/ShareAlike license (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).<ref name="flickr">{{cite web |url=https://www.flickr.com/people/esa_marswebcam/ |title=VMC The Mars Webcam |work=Flickr.com |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>
On June 3, 2023, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of ''Mars Express'', a [[livestream]] of images from the camera was streamed online, which was the first livestream direct from Mars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tune in for first Mars livestream |url=https://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/Operations/Tune_in_for_first_Mars_livestream |access-date=2023-06-02 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Technical specifications ==
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* Image size: 640×480 pixels
* Pixel depth: 8 bits
* [[Field of
* Approximate distance from Mars surface: {{convert|300|-|10000|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="sfnow20031225">{{cite news |url=https://www.spaceflightnow.com/mars/marsexpress/031225update.html |title=Mars Express a success, but no one hears Beagle's bark |work=Spaceflight Now |first=Stephen |last=Clark |date=25 December 2003 |accessdate=10 November 2016}}</ref>
* Calculated<ref group="n">tan(31°/2) * 300 km / 240 px</ref> resolution at 300 km: {{convert|0.347|km|mi|abbr=on|disp=x|/pixel (|/px)}}
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* Size: {{convert|65|xx|60|xx|108|mm|abbr=on}}
== Observation targets ==
Noted observations:<ref>{{cite journal |title=Spacecraft exploration of Phobos and Deimos |journal=Planetary and Space Science |first1=Thomas C. |last1=Duxbury |first2=Alexander V. |last2=Zakharov |first3=Harald |last3=Hoffmann |first4=Edward A. |last4=Guinness |display-authors=1 |volume=102 |pages=9–17 |date=November 2014 |doi=10.1016/j.pss.2013.12.008 |bibcode=2014P&SS..102....9D|doi-access=free }}</ref>
*Mars▼
*Beagle 2
▲*Mars
**2018 Martian dust storm<ref>{{cite tweet |number=1010757825830801408 |title=New VMC Images direct from Mars! |user=esamarswebcam |date=24 June 2018}}</ref>
== See also ==
*[[JunoCam]] (another Education/Public outreach space camera on a space probe)
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