The canyon, known as the Valles Marineris, is as long as the whole of Europe and six times deeper that the US's famous Grand Canyon.

The picture is split into two parts - the top bit showing the view from above and the bottom the planet as it would be seen from a low-flying aircraft.

Mars Express is studying the planet's atmosphere, structure and geology.

It took the picture from 275km above the planet's surface.

'High hopes'

"It is 10 times better than anything sent before. We have high hopes for it and how it will advance our understanding of Mars," said one of the Mars Express team.