NASA's Next Mars Probe Takes Aim at Red Planet

NASA.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a powerful spacecraft that launched in 2005 and arrived in orbit around the Red Planet a year later. See amazing photos from the MRO mission here in this Space.com gallery.

Spider Veins on Mars

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

This photo, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in February 2009, shows spidery troughs on the Red Planet likely formed by the sublimation of carbon dioxide. NASA released the photo on Jan. 11, 2016. Read the full story here

Curiosity on Mars from MRO

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image of the Curiosity rover (inset) on the surface of the Red Planet on Dec. 13, 2014. Image released Feb. 5, 2015. Read the Full Story.

Curiosity Seen By MRO

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this photo of the Curiosity rover on Mars on Dec. 13, 2014. Image released Feb. 5, 2015 Read the Full Story.

Strange Martian Landform Spotted by MRO

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

This strange Martian landform, photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, possibly has a volcanic origin, scientists say. The photo was released on Dec. 3, 2014. Read the Full Story.

Mars Boulder Trail Wide

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

This photo by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the trail left behind by a tall boulder after it apparently tumbled down a slope. MRO captured this view on July 3, 2014, with NASA releasing it on Aug. 13. Read the Full Story Here.

Mars Boulder Trail Closeup

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

A close-up of the tall boulder (bottom right) and its trail as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Read the Full Story Here.

Fresh Crater on Mars

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Scientists discovered a fresh crater carved into the surface of Mars by a March 2012 impact. This image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [Read the Full Story]

Impact Scar Detected in Mars Weathercam Image

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This March 20, 2014, image from the MARCI camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has a dark spot (at center of inscribed rectangle) noticed while the image was being examined for a weather report. [Read the Full Story]

Before and After Crater

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

The left image was taken during Martian afternoon on March 27, 2012; the right one on the afternoon of March 28, 2012 by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) weather camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [Read the Full Story]

NASA Mars Weathercam Helps Find Big New Crater

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This April 6, 2014, image from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken as a follow-up to discovery of a possible 2012 impact scar in images from the orbiter's Mars Color Imager. [Read the Full Story]