Launched on June 2, 2003, the space exploration mission Mars Expressconducted byEuropean Space Agency (ESA), has since continued to study what lies beneath the surface of the red planet. The device in orbit for over 19 years has relied on the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) to bounce the low frequency waves off the surface. This tool turns on Windows 98 and ESA has prepared a new update that will significantly improve the performance of the antenna of about 40 meters used to see what is up to about 4.8km below the surface, as well as signal reception, data processing and the consistency of the data sent to Earth.

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Furthermore, thanks to this update it will be possible to keep MARSIS on for a period five times longer, allowing you to explore larger areas in less time. According to ESA, the update “will allow you to see beneath the surface of Mars and its moon Phobos in more detail than ever, Allowing researchers to identify regions with water more quickly. Carlo Nennasoftware engineer of Enginium who worked on the update, said:

We faced a number of challenges to improve MARSIS performance, because the software was originally designed over 20 years ago using a Microsoft Windows 98-based development environment!

Thanks to the numerous improvements, as also mentioned by Andrea Cicchettioperational manager of MARSIS at INAF, will be like “have a brand new instrument aboard Mars Express nearly 20 years after launch“.

This is undoubtedly a rather particular curiosity, which highlights how system and application updates are also fundamental in space, sometimes even making significant improvements years later.

We recently told you about a new Windows 11 feature designed to maximize privacy control, which lets you see which apps have recently accessed sensitive location and contact information, as well as devices like cameras and mic. Find more details about it in our previous dedicated news.