The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has just begun its science mission, and one of the first targets is Victoria Crater, where the rover Opportunity has just arrived after nearly 1000 sols on Mars.

The photos, using the largest interplanetary telescope ever lofted, are truly amazing.

See comments for links to original imagery. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

And in good news about us humans today... picked by Moe 1 year ago

A lake that might once have been habitable may have filled a crater for a long time on early Mars, new spacecraft images reveal. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured the images that suggest the debris-strewn Holden Crater once held a calm body of water that could have harbored life. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has discovered evidence of an ancient volcanic explosion at "Home Plate," a plateau of layered bedrock approximately 2 meters (6 feet) high within the "Inner Basin" of Columbia Hills, at the rover's landing site in Gusev Crater. picked by AutumnLotus 2 years ago

In the next week or so, Opportunity will reach the edge of Victoria Crater after about 950 sols on Mars. Expect "the coolest picture of the surface of Mars you’ve ever seen,” says lead scientist Steve Squyres. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken a new color image of the feature dubbed "Home Plate" in Gusev Crater on Mars. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

Maas Digital created this dramatic, scientifically accurate computer animation to illustrate NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission. A truly awesome feat of modern engineering! This whole process is mind boggling! picked by ogri2003 1 year ago

A detailed, colorized pan of the interior of Victoria crater was created by merging the navigation camera's B&W photos, and published in this week's Aviation Week. This demonstrates the benefits of the JPL rover team's decision to make the raw data from the rovers available to the public in near real time. Click through to see the panorama! (By the way, the far rim of the crater is half a mile... read full post picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

New software is helping NASA find safe places for the Spirit rover to ride out future Martian winters - - and also plan where Spirit and its companion rover, Opportunity, will explore in the future. picked by Mershaullk 12 months ago

The most productive and longest-lived mission to Mars has likely ended, NASA says. For nearly ten years, the orbiter mapped the surface of Mars, and it played a big role in selecting the landing sites for the successful Mars Rover missions. A problem with a solar panel joint led to its demise. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

"Another soil sample of the exact same composition as the last one..." "Still no water..." It's out of its mind with boredom. Another wonderful satirical story from The Onion. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

There's a growing buzz in the astrobiology community that ancient hydrothermal springs may have been spotted on Mars. Thanks to the eagle-eyed work of Carlton Allen and Dorothy Oehler of NASA's Johnson Space Center, "spring-like" mounds have been found in Vernal Crater in Arabia Terra on the red planet. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

Days before its tenth anniversary in Mars orbit, the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft ran into problems. They got a weak signal three days later, and nothing since. Plans are to take a photograph of it with another Mars Orbiter today or tomorrow. picked by Fanatic 2 years ago

Images were taken from the summit of "Husband Hill" which is a plateau about 100 meters (300 feet) above the Gusev crater. The location has been named the Everest panorama. These images from the Mars Rover Mission were made from Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, 2005. picked by ogri2003 1 year ago

Mars was covered in an ocean of molten rock for about 100 million years after the planet formed, researchers found. The formation of the solar system can be dated quite accurately to 4,567,000,000 years ago. Mars' metallic core formed a few million years after that. Previous estimates for how long the surface remained molten ranged from thousands of years to several hundred million years picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

OK, everyone: get out your funky 3-D glasses for a whole new look at Mars! Now it's time to feast your eyes on Mars' arctic tundra as its never been seen before: in super frozen 3-D from the Phoenix lander! picked by cactushair 4 months ago

A probable active glacier has been identified for the first time on Mars. The icy feature has been spotted in images from the European Space Agency's (Esa) Mars Express spacecraft. Ancient glaciers, many millions of years old, have been seen before on the Red Planet, but this one may only be several thousand years old. picked by AutumnLotus 12 months ago

On the surface, the ExoMars rover looks similar to NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers, with a six-wheeled design and outstretched solar wings. It also has a suite of scientific instruments designed to search for life on the surface of Mars. picked by DrNothing 1 year ago

Maybe its the mood im in but I found this picture to be full of wonder. picked by Milkshake 2 years ago

A major dust storm on Mars has worsened and is causing the Mars Exploration Rovers to lose power. picked by ogri2003 1 year ago