NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Contract NASW-01001 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agency that provided support for the project.

Cover: Main image—Sunlight on an icy martian crater, an image from the Mars Express spacecraft showing a pocket of water ice in a martian crater. Source—ESA/DLR/Freie Universitaet Berlin (G. Neukum). Reprinted by permission from Macmillan Publishers Ltd., “Snapshot: Sunlight on an Icy Martian Crater,” Nature 435:9, June 9, 2005. Copyright 2005. Additional images—Artist’s impressions of (top to bottom) the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a Mars lander under parachute, and the proposed Mars Deep Driller. Courtesy of NASA/JPL.

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