Michael C. Malin is the President and Chief Scientist of Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. Anyone who has looked at a NASA orbital image of Mars taken in the past 10 years probably has been taken on a vicarious journey to the Red Planet by Mike Malin. Not only was he the principal investigator on the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor, but his company also built the system that returned these thousands of remarkable images. Among the most exciting discoveries from that treasure trove of data was photographic evidence that suggested water has recently flowed on the surface of Mars.In addition to his work on Mars Global Surveyor, Malin has been involved with several other missions to Mars, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is currently surveying the planet. He is the descent imaging lead for the upcoming Phoenix mission, and he is responsible for the testing, calibration, and operation of the mission's Mars Descent Imager, which was built by his company.