Found this at Slashdot via their RSS feed:
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday September 21, @06:26AM
from the no-dead-batteries-on-this-probe dept.
pin_gween writes “The long-lived Mars Global Surveyor (8 yrs and flying) has enabled scientists to see changes in the surface of Mars. From the article: ‘New gullies that did not exist in mid-2002 have appeared on a Martian sand dune. New impact craters formed since the 1970s suggest changes to age-estimating models. And for three Mars summers in a row, deposits of frozen carbon dioxide near Mars’ south pole have shrunk from the previous year’s size, suggesting a climate change in progress.’ The probe’s primary mission ended in 2001 and scientists are hopeful the orbiter’s life can be extended for another 5 -10 years.”
So if you are a SF or F writer, this is some good information in stuff from world/moon building to story ideas.