The first ever night image ofMars was released by NASA today during a press conference that marked apromising new era of discovery at the Red Planet.

While also announcing freshevidence of water ice near the surface of Mars, scientists were surprisedby the quality of Odyssey's new images and by what they're seeing on thesurface of Mars.

"We had no idea what toexpect," said Phillip Christensen of Arizona State University. "We'restartled by the diversity."

Several new images were released,all made in the first 6 hours of Odyssey's first day of official scienceobservations, using the spacecraft's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS).The camera also takes visible-light images. But it is the heat-detectinginfrared images that most captivated researchers.

The night image, made with a camerathat uses technology just like night-vision goggles, reveals how differentmaterial on the planet's surface retains or releases heat after the Sun goesdown. Along with other thermal infrared images, the early results promise a newlook at the composition of Mars.

Infrared pictures -- during theday or at night -- allow scientists to see material that might be buried justunder the surface. Unseen rock, for example, can retain heat better than thethin layer of dust that might cover it. Visible-light images, therefore, oftensee a dusty surface and don't reveal the real composition below.

Other new daytime pictures takenat infrared wavelengths show how the Sun warms one crater wall while leavingthe other dark and cold. Rocks thrown from the craters long ago, but sinceburied, are now starkly revealed.

Also, the first color infraredimages of Mars were returned. In the future, these color images will helpscientists map differences in composition and even detect minerals that mighthave formed in water, providing clues to where life might once have existed.

"Those will act as beaconsfor places we want to go" and study further, said Christensen, the leadinvestigator on THEMIS.

Odyssey, a nearly$300 million mission, launchedApril 7, 2001. It will study Mars for at least three years from 249 miles (400kilometers) above, mapping the planet in visible and infrared light inunprecedented detail.

"THEMIS maps willfundamentally alter our view of Mars," said Stephen Saunders, an Odysseyproject scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the mission ismanaged.

Odyssey Special Report: CompleteCoverage of the Mission and Findings