Approaching Mars

The spacecraft's high-resolution cameras will be able to discern objects, such as rocks and rovers and crashed Mars landers, less than 1 meter across. A radar sounder will probe for underground water while spectrometers map the distribution of surface minerals. Other instruments will monitor the atmosphere, teaching researchers back on Earth how to forecast martian weather. These are key elements in NASA's plan to eventually send humans to Mars.

The Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity are already there. They arrived in January 2004 on the heels of another Earth-Mars close encounter in 2003. (Remember, this happens every two years.) The two robots were supposed to stop working months after they landed, worn down by wind, stuck in sand, or exhausted by too little solar power. Credit NASA engineering: Spirit and Opportunity are still rolling and, if they hold true to form, they'll be "alive" to see Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter when it gets there, a tiny point of light in the martian night sky, mapping the red planet for explorers of the future.

The HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has 5-times better resolution than cameras on other Mars orbiters and might be able to take pictures of the lost Mars Polar Lander.

Back on Earth people are going to enjoy watching Mars swell and brighten in the months ahead. By mid-summer, amateur astronomers with backyard telescopes will be able to spot polar ice caps and dust storms and strange dark markings. By autumn, even the least attentive of your neighbors will be remarking on "that bright red thing in the sky."

Mark October 31st as the best day of all: Mars will rise at sunset, hang overhead at midnight, and "blaze forth against the dark background of space with a splendour that outshines Sirius and rivals the giant Jupiter himself." That's how astronomer Percival Lowell described a similar close encounter in the 19th century.

Can't wait? Don't. You can see Mars any clear morning this summer. You missed Tuesday morning, May 31st as Mars and the fat crescent Moon had a pleasing close encounter in the dawn sky. Rising in the east around 4:30 AM. A sight guaranteed to wake you up! But don't worry! There will be other opportunities. How about trying tonight for instance?

More good news by the way... you're now 1000 miles closer to the planet Mars.