Mars: As Close As It Gets

"Mars is close to Earth. Better go out and look, because it won't be this close again until 2018."

Yeah, yeah... didn't we hear this last year? But it still just looks like a point of light. Okay a big, yellowish, point of light.

If you really want to see Mars up close and personal you absolutely won't get any better than these amazing panoramas.

* This one is the best (monochrome but amazing).
* This one is the best color panorama.
* This one is from the 1997 Pathfinder mission.

(NOTE: They're QuickTime Panoramas)