I thought it was interesting to learn about the different ways we get data back from mars. Excerpt from [1]: The data rate direct-to-Earth varies from about 50

I thought it was interesting to learn about the different ways we get data back from mars. Excerpt from [1]: The data rate direct-to-Earth varies from about 500 bits per second to 32,000 bits per second (roughly half as fast as a standard home modem). The data rate to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is selected automatically and continuously during communications and can be as high as 2 million bits per second. The data rate to the Odyssey orbiter is a selectable 128,000 or 256,000 bits per second (4-8 times faster than a home modem). [1] http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communicationwithearth/data/ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communicationwithearth/...