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Astronomers funded by NASA are monitoring the trajectory of an asteroid estimated to be 50 meters (164 feet) wide that is expected to cross Mars' orbital path early next year.
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This is a special day that happens only every 26 months when Earth is exactly between the Sun and Mars. Find out more about opposition and experiment with Mars and Earth in their orbits.
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Because Earthlings only get one chance every 26 months to send a spacecraft to Mars, it's important to make the most of every opportunity and to get there safely.

Explore landing sites at the THEMIS site


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NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has discovered entrances to seven possible caves on the slopes of a Martian volcano. The find is fueling interest in potential underground habitats and sparking searches for caverns elsewhere on the Red Planet.
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More at the THEMIS Instrument site



Primordial and prehistoric come together in a lasting bond of something old, something new, something orange, and something blue. In this false-color image, blue signals cooler sand or dust around an ancient crater, which dates back to a violent time of cataclysmic collisions about 4 billion years ago, shortly after Mars formed. Later, sheets of lava streamed across the surface and lapped against the crater walls. These younger lava rocks "glow" orange and yellow since they retain more heat at night than the sand and dust.
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The team operating NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is returning the healthy spacecraft to usual activities this week after a precautionary status of reduced activity that the orbiter entered on Sept. 14.
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Planetary scientists have long been excited about the prospect of one day exploring the "grand canyon" of Mars. Valles Marineris is a chasm vastly larger than Earth's Grand Canyon that also has many layers of rock that serve as windows into the past. A corner of Valles Marineris known as Melas Chasma is one of 36 potential landing sites being considered for the next robotic wanderer to the red planet, the Mars Science Laboratory, to be launched in 2009.

But because Mars exploration is risky, NASA's planetary explorers are very careful about selecting a safe place to land. The proposed site is perched in a basin that rises above the canyon floor as high as a 4,000-foot mountain on Earth. Images such as this one from NASA's Odyssey orbiter help mission planners get a closer look.
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More at the THEMIS Instrument Site



From orbit around Mars, Odyssey is monitoring a gigantic dust storm that is sweeping the planet. In mid-June, the Martian sky was pink with a usual amount of dust. By July, dust in the atmosphere stretched around the planet, in a band near the equator where the two rovers Spirit and Opportunity are hunkered down, waiting out the storm. While all missions are waiting for the dust to settle, this storm has given orbital science teams a terrific opportunity to understand how regional dust storms can go global on Mars.
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Channels scoured by ancient outbursts of flood waters are seen in this orbital view from Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System. The channels are billions of years old and have likely been affected by multiple processes over time. Here, two channels, Tiu Vallis on the left and Ares Vallis on the right, flow northward from the highlands of the southern hemisphere.

The stark difference between today's cold, dry Mars and the evidence of flood waters in the past tells scientists that the Martian climate has seen great changes. Unraveling the workings of that climate history is one of the major challenges in Mars science.
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New images from the Odyssey spacecraft show material moving downslope near the south pole of Mars. This view of dark material arranged in intricate, leaflike patterns on a lighter surface was taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System.
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Odyssey Provides Detailed View of Ice on Mars


The THEMIS camera has provided scientists with the most detailed view yet of water ice at small scales on the Red Planet. They suggest that when NASA's next Mars mission, the Phoenix Mars Lander, starts digging to icy soil on an arctic plain in 2008, it might find the depth to the ice differs in trenches just a few feet apart.
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Engineers for NASA's Mars Odyssey mission are examining data from the orbiter to determine whether onboard backup systems never used by the 6-year-old spacecraft could still be available if needed.
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Just as Earth-bound humans wear protective lotion to prevent sunburn, future Mars explorers will need to shield themselves against high-energy radiation from the sun and the rest of the cosmos.
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