<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="font-family: Helvetica; "></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>* Mars Odyssey Orbiter - December 04, 2012</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>NASA Announces Robust Multi-Year Mars Program; New Rover To Close Out Decade Of New Missions</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">"WASHINGTON -- Building on the success of Curiosity's Red Planet landing, NASA has announced plans for a robust multi-year Mars program, including a new robotic science rover set to launch in 2020. This announcement affirms the agency's commitment to a bold exploration program that meets our nation's scientific and human exploration objectives. </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">"The Obama administration is committed to a robust Mars exploration program," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "With this next mission, we're ensuring America remains the world leader in the exploration of the Red Planet, while taking another significant step toward sending humans there in the 2030s."</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The planned portfolio includes the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers; two NASA spacecraft and contributions to one European spacecraft currently orbiting Mars; the 2013 launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter to study the Martian upper atmosphere; the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission, which will take the first look into the deep interior of Mars; and participation in ESA's 2016 and 2018 ExoMars missions, including providing "Electra" telecommunication radios to ESA's 2016 mission and a critical element of the premier astrobiology instrument on the 2018 ExoMars rover.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The plan to design and build a new Mars robotic science rover with a launch in 2020 comes only months after the agency announced InSight, which will launch in 2016, bringing a total of seven NASA missions operating or being planned to study and explore our Earth-like neighbor.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The 2020 mission will constitute another step toward being responsive to high-priority science goals and the president's challenge of sending humans to Mars orbit in the 2030s.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The future rover development and design will be based on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) architecture that successfully carried the Curiosity rover to the Martian surface this summer. This will ensure mission costs and risks are as low as possible, while still delivering a highly capable rover with a proven landing system. The mission will constitute a vital component of a broad portfolio of Mars exploration missions in development for the coming decade."</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; color: #000000">Global Martian Map: <a href="http://www.mars.asu.edu/maps/?layer=thm_dayir_100m_v11"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; ">http://www.mars.asu.edu/maps/?layer=thm_dayir_100m_v11</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); ">.</span></a></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">"A simulated fly-through using the newly assembled imagery is available online at <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/missions/odyssey/20060313.html"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/missions/odyssey/20060313.html</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The fly-through plus tools for wandering across and zooming into the large image are at <a href="http://themis.asu.edu/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://themis.asu.edu/</span></a>."</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"><b>DAILY MARS ODYSSEY THEMIS IMAGES</b></span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) web site: (<a href="http://themis.la.asu.edu/latest.html"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://themis.asu.edu/gallery</span></a>)</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">The Odyssey data are available through a new online access system established by the Planetary Data System at: <a href="http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov/pds/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://starbrite.jpl.nasa.gov/pds/</span></a> </span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; color: #000000">Visit the Mars Odyssey Mission page at <a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/index.html"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; ">http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/index.html</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px">* <b>Mars Missions Status</b> - New Mars missions are being planned to include several new rover and sample collection missions. Check out the Mars Missions web page: <a href="http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/</span></a> and the Mars Exploration page: <a href="http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(4, 51, 255); ">http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/</span></a>.</span></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; min-height: 14px; "><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px"></span><br></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial; "><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica; "></span></div></body></html>