Mars pictures show lively planet

October 17, 2006

A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars is using the most powerful cameras ever pointed at the Red Planet to study its climate cycles and whether there is enough water to support a manned mission, scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday. Launched in August 2005, the orbiter dropped into a low orbit around Mars last month to map the planet's subsurface minerals, monitor its atmosphere and look for evidence of enough subsurface ice or water to process into oxygen, concrete and rocket fuel for manned exploration.