Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
What’s Under This Hole on the Surface of Mars?
Human visitors to Mars need somewhere to shelter from the radiation, temperature swings, and dust storms that plague the planet.…
A New Map Shows Where Mars is Hiding all its Ice
Water will be one of the most important resources for human explorers on Mars. They'll need it for drinking, propellant,…
Navigate a Global Image of Mars (If Your Computer Can Handle It)
Using data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), planetary scientists have created one of the most unique and detailed maps…
Fly Around Jezero Crater on Mars in This New Video
There’s a reason Jezero Crater was chosen as the landing site for the Perseverance Rover: it is considered one of…
There's a Crater on Mars That Looks Like a Bear
Facial pareidolia is the human tendency or illusion of seeing facial structures in an everyday objects – such as seeing…
Many Clouds on Mars are Driven by Dust, not Water
One of the benefits of having a cluster of satellites orbiting another planet is that scientists can then analyze that…
Beautiful Dunes on Mars, Sculpted by Swirling Winds
This interesting image from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a field of fascinating dunes called barchan…
This Ice Cliff is One of the Few Places With Exposed Water ice in the Mid-Latitudes on Mars. It’s Probably Tens of Millions of Years old
Because of the orbiters and landers that have studied Mars over the years, scientists have learned that water ice is…
The Tharsis Region of Mars is Peppered With These Strange Pit Craters. Now They’ve Been Found Elsewhere
Pit craters are found on solid bodies throughout our Solar System, including Earth, Venus, the Moon, and Mars. These craters…
A New Map of Mars, Made From 51,000 Orbital Images
When NASA sent the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to the red planet in 2006, the spacecraft took an instrument with…