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WHAT'S NEW What's New | Newsroom View By Year:    2007    2008    2009 View By News Type:    Press Releases    Spotlights    All Press Release 12.21.2007 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory Astronomers Monitor Asteroid to Pass Near Mars As expected, scientists at JPL's Near-Earth Object Office have further refined the trajectory estimate for asteroid 2007 WD5 and ruled out any possibility of a Mars impact on Jan. 30. Spotlight 12.20.2007 Alignment on December 24, 2007 This is a special day that happens only every 26 months when Earth is exactly between the Sun and Mars. Find out more about opposition and experiment with Mars and Earth in their orbits. Press Release 10.19.2007 Source: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab Spectrometer on NASA Orbiter Maps Minerals at Possible Landing Sites Scientists scouting potential landing sites for NASA's next Mars rover mission are using new data from a powerful mineral-mapping camera to narrow the site selection. Press Release 10.10.2007 Source: Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Orbiter Provides Color Views of Mars Landing Site Candidates Less than a year since beginning the prime science phase of its mission, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has passed a mission-success milestone for the amount of data returned. Spotlight 09.17.2007 Mars Science Laboratory Project Changes Respond to Cost Increases, Keep Mars Program On Track In early June 2007, the Mars Science Laboratory project completed its project-wide Critical Design Review (CDR), which marks the completion of the project's design phase and transition into the build up of flight hardware. Spotlight 06.27.2007 Shutterbugs Shoot 'Scarecrow' On June 19, 2007, media visited JPL's newly expanded outdoor Mars Yard where rovers train for future planetary missions. Visitors were treated to a test drive of the "Scarecrow" rover. Spotlight 05.10.2007 Mars Science Laboratory - Less Than a Year from Assembly and Testing Phase The 2009 Mars Science Laboratory, the mammoth grandchild of the 1997 Sojourner rover, is less than one year from the assembly, test and launch operations phase (ATLO).