Tom Brosz wrote:
At some point NASA or someone is going to have to bite the bullet and set up actual full-time heavy-duty communications satellites in geo...er...arestationary? orbits.

There are plans for a dedicated Mars telecommunications relay satellite to be launched, perhaps, in 2009. The proposed 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, which may deploy a long-range, RTG-powered rover, will be data intensive and will need a larger, longer loitering pipeline than the low altitude, polar orbiting UHF relays (e.g., Mars Odyssey, MGS, or MRO). At first, a joint U.S. and Italian mission, the G. Marconi Mars Telecom Orbiter (GMO), was baselined; however, funding issues with the Italian space agency, ASI, have forced a re-evaluation of their participation. The alternative is a solo U.S. mission dubbed Mars Telesat. Interestingly, trade studies and link analyses performed for GMO/Mars Telesat recommended a circular 4450 km orbit with an inclination of -130 degrees to offer the most flexible coverage.