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

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 7 months ago

The crater is about 60 metres deep, allowing a rover to "dig" deeper into the ground – and into Mars's past – than ever before. "We're going to see more of the history of Mars here than we've seen anywhere else," Squyres says. picked by DrNothing 1 year 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 1 year ago

These two images taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) show Mars' two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, as seen from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's low orbit around Mars. Both images were taken while the spacecraft was over Mars' night side, with the spacecraft turned off its normal nadir-viewing geometry to glimpse the moons. picked by AutumnLotus 11 months 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

"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

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

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

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

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 6 months 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

The Spirit rover is celebrating its 1000th day on Mars--the original mission was planned for only 90 days--and the JPL mission team has released a 360-degree view of Spirit's wintering grounds, made from nearly 1500 individual images with no compression. It is the highest-resolution photograph of the surface ever taken. 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 10 months 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

What it would be like to fly over Mars? Combining terrain data from the orbiting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft with information about the robotic Spirit rover currently rolling across Mars has resulted in a digital movie that shows what a flight over the Columbia Hills might look like. picked by sandossu 5 months ago

The High Resolution Imaging Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took the photograph Feb. 19. The image, released today, shows tan clouds billowing away from the foot of a towering slope, where ice and dust have just cascaded down. picked by dollyllama 7 months ago

The radar system on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has uncovered new details about some of the most mysterious deposits on Mars: the Medusae Fossae Formation. It has provided the first direct measurement of the depth and electrical properties of these materials, providing new clues about their origin. 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