"Every request, as long as it meets the rules, will be put into our database…then we just wait until some time in the future when the predicted ground track goes over the location, we can try to take the picture," said Edgett.
The spacecraft's camera has taken more than 120,000 pictures of Mars, many at a resolution sharp enough to show features as small as a school bus. The spacecraft is in good condition and its operation is funded at least through September 2004.
Depending on where Mars is in relation to Earth—think of the two planets as two racecars on separate tracks, one inside of the other, and going at different speeds—the camera can relay 20 to 100 high-resolution images to Earth per day.
Currently the two planets are as close as they get and thus the data rate is at its highest. A year from now the planets will be farther apart, meaning it will take longer for the data to go from Mars to Earth, explained Edgett. As a result, fewer images per day can be obtained.
"Over the course of a year, I would expect to see several hundred [requested photos] get taken," said Edgett. "I think people will be pleased."
Images of the red planet taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera are the basis of several recent discoveries, including pictures that show outcrops of sedimentary rock that may have been deposited in a water-like environment and images of gullies that appear to some scientists to suggest relatively recent flow of liquid on the Martian surface.
The discovery of potential water in the past—perhaps recent past—on Mars raised the possibility that life once existed and may still persist on the planet. Water is considered a key ingredient for life as it is known on Earth.
"We are certain to have plenty more discoveries as time goes on, maybe some from these public targets, who knows," said Edgett, who added that the timing of allowing the public to participate in selecting targets for the Mars Orbiter Camera and the close-approach event is a coincidence.
Mars Opposition
Astronomers explain that while Mars will be as big as it gets as seen from Earth on Wednesday, it gets nearly as big in the night sky every 26 months when Earth laps Mars on its orbit around the sun. Since neither of the planets' orbits are perfect circles, some passes are closer than others.
In 1988 Mars came almost as close and the two planets will again be cozy in October 2005. Mars will continue to appear rather big in the sky for the next month, providing amateur photographers ample opportunity to experiment with making images. For Northern Hemisphere viewers, the 2005 opposition may be even better than this year's.
"At closest approach in 2005 Mars will be 25 percent further away than this year, making it look only 80 percent as big in the telescope. But we in the United States may get a better view of it because at the time Mars will be much further north and higher in the sky," said Covington. "Right now the Australians are having all the fun."
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