We have security cameras watching our daily habits, we watch voyeuristic TV shows of social misfits trapped in a house, we use webcams to transmit our musings on Youtube and we are constantly being monitored by hi-res satellite cameras. What can we possibly survey now? Surely every inch of the planet is under someone's watchful eye? This planet maybe. By a stroke of luck, ESA scientists have just realised that a surplus camera on board the Mars Express orbiter could be switched back on and used as an interplanetary webcam. Big Brother is now keeping a watchful eye on the Red Planet too…

Back in 2003, the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) had one task and one task only: keep a watchful eye over the UK's Beagle 2 Mars lander as it separated from Mars Express and began its descent to the planet's atmosphere. This fairly "normal" camera was only intended to verify that Beagle 2 had separated and begun on its correct trajectory. According to the only VMC/Beagle 2 image below, separation went as planned as we see the bright lander disk to the left of the image. The problems started later on for the lander as something happened to the robot on re-entry.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/VMC/index.html

↑ Grab this Headline Animator