Dr. Phil Varghese

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above a portion of the planet that is rotating into the sunlight in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October ...

This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the caldera floor of Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanoes. It is 270 miles in diameter, almost 12 mi...

This THEMIS visible image shows a close-up view of the ridged plains in Hesperia Planum. This region is the classic locality for martian surfaces that formed in the "middle ages" of martian history.

A small impact crater on Mars named Gratteri, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) wide, lies at the center of large dark streaks.

The channels in this VIS image are part of Tyrrhena Fossae on the northern flank of Tyrrhenus Mons.

This image shows the context for orbital observations of exposed rocks that had been buried an estimated 5 kilometers (3 miles) deep on Mars.

Bacolor Crater is a magnificent impact feature about 20 kilometers (12 miles) wide.

This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (Aug. 6, 2012 EDT) and the location where Curiosity collected its first drill...

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows 'streamers' of clouds created by katabatic winds at the north polar cap.

As fractures opened near the summit of Tyrrhena Patera, the ground collapsed to make pits and chains of pits aligned with the fractures. The large pit seen here is about 400 m (1,300 ft) deep.

Getting to Mars is difficult enough -- staying there is even more challenging. Odyssey met up with Mars on October 24 02:26 UTC (October 23: 7:26 p.m. PDT/10:26 p.m.EDT).

A lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and Mars has a close encounter with a comet.

Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture.

A new map of Mars' gravity made with three NASA spacecraft is the most detailed to date, providing a revealing glimpse into the hidden interior of the Red Planet. Satellites always orbit a planet's...

Researchers estimating the amount of carbon held in the ground at the largest known carbonate-containing deposit on Mars utilized data from three different NASA Mars orbiters.

This image is located near the boundary between Syrtis Major and Isidis Planitia. The top of the image shows rough material that has eroded away from the lower portion of the image, revealing an un...

Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.

Five decades of successful NASA missions to the Red Planet, 1965-2015.

Seasons change even on Mars and NASA's fleet of explorers are helping scientists learn more about the effects on the Red Planet.

This region of Terra Sabaea contains areas with high densities of small craters.

This animation shows how NASA's Curiosity rover communicates with Earth via two of NASA's Mars orbiters, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and Odyssey, and the European Space Agency's Mars Express....

Echus Chasma forms the boundary between the Tharsis volcanoes to the west and Lunae Planum to the east. This region is one of both tectonically fractured rocks (top of image) and volcanic flows (mi...

The Odyssey spacecraft was launched toward Mars on April 7, 2001 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. In this four-part video series, Odyssey navigation team members explain the daily challenges of steeri...

Although it is 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide, countless layers of ice and dust have all but buried Udzha Crater.

Odyssey launched on Boeing's Delta II 7925 that uses nine strap-on solid rocket motors.