Projects

NASA launched a multipurpose spacecraft named Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on August 12, 2005 to advance our understanding of Mars through detailed observation, to examine potential landing sites for future surface missions and to provide a high-data-rate communications relay for those missions. Scientists are using the spacecraft to study the surface, monitor the atmosphere, and probe underground, all to gain better knowledge of the distribution and history of Mars' water, whether frozen, liquid or vapor.