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Introduction
I can't help myself. I cannot resist the news from outer space. Since everyone else seems to have forgotten about Mars, here's a brief reminder.

NASA posted a report on the Mars Odyssey mission last Wednesday.

Mars Odyssey Begins Overtime After Successful Mission

08.25.04

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter begins working overtime today after completing a prime mission that discovered vast supplies of frozen water, ran a safety check for future astronauts, and mapped surface textures and minerals all over Mars, among other feats.

Map of Martian soil

Image right: This map shows the estimated lower limit of the water content of the upper meter of Martian soil. + Click for full caption. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"Odyssey has accomplished all of its mission-success criteria," said Dr. Philip Varghese, project manager for Odyssey at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The spacecraft has been examining Mars in detail since February 2002, more than a full Mars year of about 23 Earth months. NASA has approved an extended mission through September 2006.

"This extension gives us another Martian year to build on what we have already learned," said JPL's Dr. Jeff Plaut, project scientist for Odyssey. "One goal is to look for climate change. During the prime mission we tracked dramatic seasonal changes, such as the comings and goings of polar ice, clouds and dust storms. Now, we have begun watching for year-to-year differences at the same time of year."

So, there's water on Mars after all, and probably not too far from the surface. If we can figure out how to extract it, colonization of Mars will not be far behind.

Martian Waters