Between now and then there will be a perfectly enjoyable martian opposition in 2001. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, and a measurable atmosphere. Many of its geological features suggest a warmer and wetter past. No clue of Mars' fascinating surface features can be glimpsed with the eye alone, but you can get a feel for the surface of Mars by looking at this planet through a telescope. Rough, rocky terrain looks like dark markings that stand out against lighter desert regions.
Seasons spawn dust storms while polar caps swell and shrink.
Mists and clouds burn off around huge volcanoes after martian sunrise, only to reform as evening approaches. The next planet out from Mars is Jupiter. After the sun, this is the largest object in our solar system. Because Jupiter is some five times Earth's distance from the sun, it orbits the sun much more slowly than we do. It has a much greater distance to cover, and its speed in orbit is less, about 8 miles per second in contrast to Earth's orbital speed of 18 miles per second.