<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><div><section id="ember953" class="ember-view collapsible opened" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: none; overflow-y: hidden;"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-side_image" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.5em 0px 3em 2em; max-width: 320px; float: right; clear: right; width: 320px;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/mars2020_3_landing_sites_slideshow_shareable.gif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial initial;" class=""></a></div><div class="dnd-legend-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 11px;"><div class="caption" style="box-sizing: border-box;"></div><div class="credits" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"></div><div class="link" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: inherit; background-attachment: inherit; background-origin: inherit; background-clip: inherit; background-size: inherit; padding: 0px;"></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Participants in a landing site workshop for NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020 mission have recommended three locations on the Red Planet for further evaluation. The three potential landing sites for NASA’s next Mars rover include Northeast Syrtis (a very ancient portion of Mars’ surface), Jezero crater, (once home to an ancient Martian lake), and Columbia Hills (potentially home to an ancient hot spring, explored by NASA’s Spirit rover). More information on the landing sites can be found at: <a href="http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/timeline/prelaunch/landing-site-selection/" style="font-weight: 700; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px;" class="">http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/timeline/prelaunch/landing-site-se…</a> <a href="http://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px;" class="">Mars 2020</a> is targeted for launch in July 2020 aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rover will conduct geological assessments of its landing site on Mars, determine the habitability of the environment, search for signs of ancient Martian life, and assess natural resources and hazards for future human explorers. It will also prepare a collection of samples for possible return to Earth by a future mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will build and manage operations of the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington. For more information about NASA's Mars programs, visit: <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mars" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; background-position: 0px 0px;" class="">http://www.nasa.gov/mars</a></font></p><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class="title-bar" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2em 0px;"><div class="title-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 738.75px; padding: 0px;"><h1 class="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.1; color: inherit; font-size: 2.2em;">Comet’s Trip Past Earth Offers First in a Trio of Opportunities</h1></div></div><section id="ember951" class="opened collapsible ember-view" style="box-sizing: border-box; max-height: none; overflow-y: hidden;"><div class="text" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: inherit; line-height: 1.4em;" class=""><font size="4" class="">Comet hunters still have a chance to see comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková in the next few days using binoculars or a telescope. It’s the first of a trio of comets that will -- between now and the end of 2018 -- pass close enough to Earth for backyard observers to try to spot and for scientists to study using ground-based instruments. Comet 45P will come closest to Earth on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 11, when it passes by at a distance of about 7.7 million miles (12.4 million kilometers), or more than roughly 30 times the distance between Earth and the moon. It is currently in the early morning eastern sky, though the full moon may make the comet more difficult to spot. The recommendation for backyard astronomers is to use binoculars or a telescope to look for the comet several times during the coming days.</font></p><div class="type-image dnd-atom-wrapper context-full_width" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: table; margin: 0px auto 2em;"><div class="dnd-drop-wrapper" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/361_45p_22_12c.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(66, 139, 202); text-decoration: none; font-size: 15px; background-position: 0px 0px;" class=""></a></div></div></div></section></div></div></section></div></body></html>