MRO science investigations include a retry at flying infrared radiometer equipment and a Mars color imager. They were lost to space due to the Mars Climate Orbiter flub-up (the craft flew by Mars due a metric units mix-up that wrecked navigation commands). Other science hardware includes a visible/near infrared imaging spectrometer and medium angle camera gear.

A likely new addition to MRO is subsurface sounding radar to scan for underground water. This radar is to be provided by the Italian Space Agency.

Remote sensing science observations are to take place over one Martian year, a stretch of time equal to about two years here on Earth. Toward the end of its primary science mission, MRO is on tap to provide navigational support and a telecommunications relay link for missions launched to Mars in 2007 and/or 2009.

As it circuits Mars, MRO will churn out huge amounts of data, said James Graf, manager of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

"The amount of data and the amount of bandwidth that we're looking to provide is a dramatic increase over what other missions have provided," Graf said.

"Our challenge is not just to acquire and transmit the data to Earth, but to distribute and process it efficiently on the ground and make it available quickly to the community and the public," Graf said. "The resolution and coverage of the MRO instruments will be a major step forward in surveying Mars' surface and understanding the processes that shaped its evolution."

High on the list of MRO science objectives is the study of Mars' atmosphere and climate cycles. Looking at water, dust and carbon dioxide levels helps piece together processes of present and past climate change.

Then there's the search for water on Mars.

How much is present today? Or will we detect tattletale traces of long-gone water?

MRO instruments can detect the presence of "Yellowstones" on the red planet -- localized hot springs that might serve as warm, wet, and comfy corners for Martian biology.

"We're going to be looking for those signatures that water was present on the surface for some extended length of time, sometime during Mars' history," said Zurek, MRO project scientist at JPL. He said that much of the science gained from MRO is keyed to the synergism of various instruments onboard the spacecraft.

"We want to be able to target any particular place on the planet should we decide to do so," Zurek said.

MRO shots of Mars are sure to help scientists pinpoint exactly where the next wave of spacecraft should touch down.

"We have to remind ourselves that the surface area of Mars is the same as the land area of the Earth," Zurek said. "So it's not like we're just going to take a couple of lucky pokes."