Just to play devil's advocate here, is it really /that/ "outdated"? Yes, the camera is modest by 2004 standards, but by 1994 standards it's out of this world!

Just to play devil's advocate here, is it really /that/ "outdated"? Yes, the camera is modest by 2004 standards, but by 1994 standards it's out of this world! To me, eight years to build and test equipment to fly to Mars and wander around on another planet's surface is a pretty reasonable turnaround time.