Putting a zoom lens on the Red Planet is the camera-toting task for NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Slated for Earth departure in August 2005, the Mars-circling MRO will snap super-detailed portraits of the Martian landscape. MRO’s powerful imaging system can help identify safe and scientifically rewarding landing sites for future robotic craft, as well as human expeditions. Reconnaissance imagery from the orbiter will be a factor of five over what the current Mars Global Surveyor camera cranks out, says the mission’s Project Scientist Richard Zurek.