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Orbiter Update

20-Jul-2007

Mars Rovers Battle Severe Dust Storm

Whopper dust storms on Mars are whipping up potential problems for the twin Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit. Opportunity in particular is getting less power from the sun because it's blocked by a dusty haze. To conserve Opportunity's power supply, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have told the rover to conduct only essential operations. Once the storm subsides, the plan is to have Opportunity descend into Victoria Crater, which could be a site of intriguing science discoveries.

Huge dust storms whip around Mars every 5 to 6 years. Scientists hope the rovers will weather this latest storm, and in fact, that they will learn a lot about Martian dust storms from observations made by the rovers, by NASA's orbiting Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and by the European Mars Express spacecraft.

Related Images and Animations:
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | Mars Exploration Rovers

Related Videos
MARCI Images

11-Jul-2007

MRO Instrument Site Monitors Orbiter's Track

This image is a screen shot taken from the computer program that allows viewers to 'ride along' with the CRISM camera aboard MRO. Each section is numbered to indicate that different data is available in these separate quadrants. The quadrant on the top left shows an orange-brown surface map of Mars and a solid black line that represents where the camera is aiming on the planet. The bottom left quadrant is a graph showing circles that represent Earth and Mars and their relation to our Sun. Next to that is the window where viewers 'see' what the CRISM instrument is 'seeing.' The entire right side of the image contains data such as the instrument's target location and the spacecraft's altitude.

CRISM View is a first-of-its-kind opportunity to watch Mars through the "eyes" of the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) - as if you were riding along with it on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter!

The team operating the mineral-mapping camera (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter offers Web users a simulated view, in real time, of what part of Mars the instrument is seeing as it orbits the planet. The viewer is based on the application that team members use to monitor their instrument.

See http://crism.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/articles/060707.php.

28-Jun-2007

Overlooking Opportunity

In this black and white image, Victoria Crater takes up most of the middle and left side of the frame. The crater is large and its rim is scalloped and made up of a series of inlets. In the middle of the crater is a field of bright, wavy dunes. Around the crater are the tracks of the Opportunity rover. They are bright, thin lines that are etched into the martian surface surrounding the crater.

As engineers and scientists anticipate the Opportunity rover's long-awaited descent into "Victoria Crater," they have a bird's-eye view thanks to the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Opportunity's tracks decorate the edge of Victoria Crater like a constellation in our night sky. These tracks represent nearly a year's worth of investigation to characterize the massive depression before deciding whether or not to enter.

Plans are to take a dip into the crater around the second week of July and then proceed down, if driving conditions are favorable.

17-May-2007

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Making Quick Work of its Science Goals

This is a group of images. The image on the left is the largest of the three and is a black and white image of a large crater on Mars. In the right, center of this image is a small black box representing the area that is detailed in the two smaller images on the right. The two images to the right of the black and white image are the same size and they both represent the same area. In the tope image, the dunes represented appear blue and orange. In the bottom image, the dunes appear almost entirely orange-colored, with only hints of blue.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is an overachiever! About six months into its science-gathering phase and the orbiter has already returned 11 Terabits of data – that’s enough to fill over 2,000 CDs!

Image and Caption

04-May-2007

Rock Layers Exposed by Wind

This black-and-white orbital image shows elongate, teardrop-shaped layers of rock stacked atop each other and viewed from above. To the left and right, the layers drop off as sharp cliffs to sandier surfaces below.

Erosion has exposed light-toned, layered rocks on the northern rim of Hellas Basin, the largest impact crater on Mars. Details in the layering seen in this image from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment reveal variations in brightness that may indicate differing mineralogies.

More at UofA >>

16-Feb-2007

100 Days of Operations for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

2 images, the left side is a HiRISE image and the right is a CRISM image.

The CRISM and HiRISE instruments have given the orbiter's science team and the public much to celebrate as they show us Mars in unprecedented detail.

Less than a year since Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at Mars and less than four months since its science phase began, instruments aboard the spacecraft are not just sending back stunning images, but making good on the promise to advance our fundamental knowledge of our neighboring planet.

CRISM has looked at recently-formed craters that NASA's champion Mars Global Surveyor mission had imaged over its amazing 10-year journey around Mars. The powerful spectrometer allows scientists to better characterize these impact sites as well as identify specific minerals in and around them. The instrument is also examining areas in the northern plains where NASA's Phoenix scout mission is set to land in May of 2008. It is vital to understand this extremely hostile environment before landing spacecraft there.

Meanwhile, on another part of the instrument deck, the HiRISE camera has been producing images with unprecedented resolution and clarity. Select images have revealed what scientists call "haloes." They believe these are the effects of liquid or gas that flowed through underground rocks on ancient Mars. Since we recognize water as a fundamental part of life as we know it on Earth, any detection of liquid - ancient or recent - on Mars could indicate conditions ripe for microbial life.

HiRISE: Press Release | Images

CRISM: Press Release | Images

11-Jan-2007

MRO Pinpoints Pathfinder

This image is a close-up of the area in the vicinity of the Pathfinder landing site.

Using the high-resolution camera, visual clues such as peaks and craters seen in earlier images, and old-fashioned detective skills, scientists were able to identify the 1997 Pathfinder mission within a vast landscape of seemingly homogenous Martian terrain.

22-Dec-2006

Seasonal Frost on Mars

Top Image: This image is in the shape of the waist area of a human. The sides are curved inward. The top left corner is white with a few circles, which are craters. Everything else in the images is darker hue due to the shadow cast by a crater wall. The middle area of the image is greenish-blue and has features that are jagged and steep that look like crevices of human molar teeth. The bottom third of the image is flat and smooth compared to the rest of the image. Bottom Image: This image is in the shape of the waist area of a human. The sides are curved inward. The base of the image is a deep red with a little brighter red in the upper right. Everything else is darker due to the shadow cast by a crater wall. The middle area is pixelated with thick cloud-like shapes of blue that cover the red. A few pixels of green dot the image in a small vertical line in the center of the image and to the far right, going up and down the image.

Using its high-tech mineral detector, MRO finds water frost (shaded in blue) on a crater rim.

More Details >>

13-Dec-2006

NASA Spacecraft Read Layered Clues to Changes on Mars

This false-color subframe of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the north polar layered deposits at top and darker materials at bottom, exposed in a scarp at the head of Chasma Boreale, a large canyon eroded into the layered deposits.

Studies of recent Martian climate change are on the rise with new data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Much as scientists study Earth's ice ages through layered deposits, the science team is seeking clues to Mars' past by studying ice-rich layers at the Martian poles. The mineral gypsum and clay minerals found at the poles will be important, as they are indicators of wet conditions on Mars in the past. Radar penetrations that reveal thickness and fine-scale layering will also help define climate variations and environmental conditions on Mars over time.

View Related Animation

04-Dec-2006

Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site at Gusev Crater

This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbtier shows the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured glimpses of its ancestors and sister spacecraft from the orbiter's soaring vantage point.

Viking 30th Anniversary stories

29-Nov-2006

New Images From Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

This image shows 'Eagle crater', the small martian impact crater where Opportunity's airbag-cushioned lander came to rest.

Some new, high resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show channels in a fossil delta, troughs in sand dunes and hardware from the landing of the rover Opportunity.

University of Arizona Release

View Related Animation

16-Oct-2006

NASA Orbiter Reveals New Details Of Mars, Young And Old

Mars Like We've Never Seen It!

Even scientists and engineers who are well acquainted with the capability of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are in awe of the first images taken from the orbiter's low science orbit. This enhanced-color image from the orbiter's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera is an example of the beauty and the rich science that this mission promises to deliver.

This shot is just a glimpse of a larger HiRISE image, showing detail of gullies in an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region of Mars. The drastic color differences, courtesy of the camera's high signal to noise ration, allow scientists to "see through shadows," revealing the true nature of martian features.

Press Release
Press Images

28-Sep-2006

Mars Mineral Mapper Flips Its Lid

In this image, a small group of people clap while looking at computer screens that display data that indicates to them that their instrument is ready for operations. Three of the people are seated and the rest of the people are gathered around them.

NASA's latest orbiter to visit Mars achieved another mark of success this week. The mineral-mapping instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully removed its lens cover and is ready to start observing the planet. This comes on the heels of a successful test of the orbiter's subsurface radar antenna. This period of powering on instruments and completing calibrations leads up to the orbiter's primary science phase, beginning in November 2006.

Full story from Johns Hopkins University

20-Sep-2006

Shaking on SHARAD's Success

In this image, Graf, a middle-aged Caucasian man with graying, brown hair is on the far left. He is wearing a bright red shirt and extending his hand to shake that of Flamini. Dr. Flamini, on the right of the image, is a balding Italian man who is smiling broadly. Behind the men is a screen displaying a blue background with a scratchy white line that represents the successful results of the SHARAD antenna echo test.

Scientists and engineers waited anxiously for word that SHARAD, the Shallow Subsurface Radar antenna aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, was extended and functioning properly. Cheers and applause filled the mission support area when tests confirmed that the antenna is working and ready to begin scoping out the subsurface of Mars.

06-Sep-2006

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Adjusts Angle of Orbit

This image is an artist's concept of a front view of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its six intermediate-size thrusters for 210 seconds Tuesday in a maneuver to make the shape of its orbit closer to the planned geometry for the mission's main science phase, beginning in November.

The maneuver raised the portion of the elliptical orbit at which the spacecraft comes nearest to Mars -- the periapsis -- from 216 kilometers (134 miles) above the surface to 320 kilometers (199 miles). A thruster firing on Aug. 30 had lifted the periapsis high enough to end a five-month process of dipping into the atmosphere every orbit to gradually shrink the orbit. The spacecraft now completes each loop around Mars in just under two hours.

The Sept. 5 maneuver also fine-tuned the orbit's angle relative to Mars' equator, tweaking it less than one degree to 92.5 degrees.

A longer firing of the engines next week is planned for lowering the high point of the orbit to make the shape more circular and for locking into a pattern of keeping the periapsis over Mars' South Pole and the far point -- the apoapsis -- over the North Pole.

30-Aug-2006

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Successfully Concludes Aerobraking

artist concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter during aerobraking.

Nearly six months after it entered orbit, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has concluded its aerobraking phase. The spacecraft had been dipping in and out of the red planet's atmosphere to adjust its orbit. On August 30, 2006, during its 445th orbit, the spacecraft fired its intermediate thrusters to raise the low point of its orbit and stop dipping into the atmosphere.

10-May-2006

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Continues Aerobraking

This is a still image from an animation of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter conducting aerobraking around Mars. The background is the black of space with small white stars. The top of the image shows the bottom half of a dusty orange Mars, part of it lit by sun and part in darkness. Below the planet is the orbiter surrounded by a ghostly glow that indicates its resistance against the martian atmosphere.

NASA's latest orbiter to visit the Red Planet is well into its main phase of aerobraking. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has cut about 10 hours off of its initial orbit by strategically dipping in and out of Mars' thin atmosphere.

Now at a 25 hour-orbit, the spacecraft is circling the planet roughly once per martian sol (day), which is 24 hours, 39 minutes.

The periapsis altitude (the closest the spacecraft comes to the planet) of its orbit is at 106 kilometers (66 miles). Periapsis is near 75 degrees south latitude in the South Pole region of Mars.

"The spacecraft will perform a small maneuver tonight (May 10, 2006) that will lower periapsis altitude to 104 kilometers (65 miles)," said Deputy Mission Manager Dan Johnston. "This will allow us to maintain our desired aerobraking orbit period reduction rate. The spacecraft continues to perform very well as we skim through the martian atmosphere."

06-Apr-2006

First Color HiRISE Image of Mars

This is the first color image of Mars from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

This is the first color image of Mars from the HiRISE. This is not natural color as seen by human eyes, but infrared color. This image also has been processed to enhance subtle color variations.

29-Mar-2006

Next Phase: Aerobraking

This artists concept shows MRO's path in smaller and smaller yellow ovals around Mars.

After a nearly flawless entry into martian orbit, what is next for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter? Six months of precise aerobraking will position the spacecraft for optimal science return.

Aerobraking is a process in which engineers utilize the martian atmosphere to slow their craft and ease it into a circular orbit. Initially, the spacecraft entered into a 35-hour orbit that, if drawn, would appear oval shaped. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will dip into Mars' atmosphere during its orbital passes and the craft's large solar panels and high-gain antenna will create resistance, slowing the vehicle and moving it into a more circular orbit. At aerobraking's end, the spacecraft's orbit will be approximately two hours.

Coming Soon: Aerobraking Video and Feature Story

24-Mar-2006

HiRISE Team Anxiously Awaits Images

In this photo, several HiRISE team members hover around a computer screen looking at the first image from HiRISE.

Sleep is secondary to Dr. Alfred McEwen and his HiRISE team. They are eager to see what their instrument is seeing from orbit around Mars. Scientists and engineers at the University of Arizona are gearing up to see the first test images of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

24-Mar-2006

First Mars Image from Newly Arrived Camera

This image is a mosaic combining 10 side-by-side exposures taken through red filters, presented at greatly reduced scale. This view shows the ground covered in the first image of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Streams of data poured in overnight as excited engineers and scientists waited to see what the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera was seeing from orbit around Mars. The results were worth waiting up for! Share in the excitement of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's first images from orbit.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was farther from Mars when the camera took these test images than it will be when the mission's main science phase begins next fall, so the resolution of features in the images will not match what is anticipated later. However, this week's testing is the only planned use of the camera until the science phase begins.

23-Mar-2006

Testing HiRISE

Photo of a model of the HiRISE instrument.

Scientists and engineers at the University of Arizona are gearing up to see the first test images of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

10-Mar-2006

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Successfully Enters Orbit Around Mars!

In this image, a group of men and women are celebrating the successful orbit insertion of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 10, 2006. Mission manager Jim Graf is featured. He is a Caucasian man in his fifties with brown hair and a salt and pepper goatee. His arms are raised in celebration. Behind him is the Director of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Dr. Charles Elachi. He is a man in his fifties with thinning brown and gray hair and glasses. They are both wearing maroon-colored short-sleeved shirts with mission emblems on them. Dr. Elachi has a brown leather jacket on also. They are surrounded by other men and women clapping in mission control.

Cheers of joy filled the mission control area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory today as its latest mission to Mars met a critical mission milestone: Mars orbit insertion. At 2:16 p.m. (PST), ground controllers were informed by the Deep Space Network that they had locked up on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's signal as the spacecraft reappeared above Mars. This communication was a tremendous relief to the mission team as they had to wait nearly half an hour for their spacecraft to emerge from behind the red planet and back into range so that radio signals could again be transmitted. A few minutes later, it was confirmed that the orbiter was captured into the intended initial orbit.

03-Feb-2006

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is on the Approach

In this image, a yellow dot in the middle represents the Sun. A blue circle around the Sun represents the Earth in orbit around the Sun and a red line outside of that represents Mars orbiting. A blue dot on the blue line represent liftoff of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from Earth on August 12, 2005. A green and yellow line represents the spacecraft's journey away from Earth and toward Mars. Opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs) are marked along the green and yellow line. Some major events in the mission are labeled: launch, cruise, approach and Mars orbit insertion.

This diagram illustrates the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's journey from launch to Mars. The inner circle (blue) represents Earth in orbit around the Sun (center). The green and yellow line represents the spacecraft on its way to Mars. The outer (red) circle represents Mars in orbit around the Sun. Four major stages of the mission are labeled: launch, cruise, approach and Mars orbit insertion. Also labeled are the opportunities for trajectory correction maneuvers, or chances to tweak the orbiter's path. The third trajectory correction maneuver was deemed unnecessary due to the precision of the spacecraft's current path.

27-Dec-2005

Stellar Calibration, HiRISE!

The HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this image of part of Jewel Box, an open star cluster. Jewel Box was so named by Sir John Herschel because of the variety of star colors in the cluster, including the large red giant seen near the bottom of this image.

The HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught a glimpse inside "Jewel Box"!

22-Dec-2005

Phobos and Deimos, Prepare to Say 'Cheese!'

The insert in this black and white image is a drawing of a simulation of what the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's optical navigation camera will see when snapping pictures of the martian moons, Phobos and Deimos. A square box roughly represents the outsides of the image. The planet Mars is on the lower left side, half of it in shadow. In the center of the image is the martian moon Deimos, represented by a tiny speck. Surrounding Deimos are numbered plus signs that represent stars. These contextual images will help navigators accurately predict the spacecraft's location before it enters the martian orbit.

The insert in this image is a simulation of what the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's optical navigation camera images of the martian moons Phobos and Deimos will look like. The images will not be up-close portraits of the moon like we have from the Viking missions. They will be contextual pictures that will aid navigators in getting the most specific location data, so they know exactly where the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft is before its orbit insertion.

19-Oct-2005

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is Already Breaking Records!

This image shows a crescent view of Earth's Moon in infrared wavelengths. It comes from a camera test by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on its way to Mars.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter set the record for interplanetary missions, sending back the most data in a single day!

27-Sep-2005

MRO Faces Huge Solar Flare

NOAA image of the sun from the NOAA Solar X-ray Imager aboard the NOAA GOES-12 satellite taken Sept. 7, 2005, at 1:46 p.m. EDT.

September 7, 2005 saw the fourth largest solar flare in the last 15 years!

12-Sep-2005

Smooth Sailing

In this image, the sun is in the center. Two circles go around the sun, representing Earth's orbit and Mars' orbit. MRO is shown transferring from Earth toward Mars.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter began its cruise phase and successfully completed the first two vital tasks.

30-Aug-2005

MRO Streaks Across the Sky

In this image, against the black of the night sky, stars are punctuated by a tiny, bright streak. The streak, appearing at the top of the image in the center, is the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aboard its Atlas V launch vehicle as it makes its way on its trajectory toward Mars.

Keen sky watchers in Japan caught a quick glimpse of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as it sped through the sky on its path to the red planet.

12-Aug-2005

Next Stop, Mars!

In this image, a group of people are standing on a strip of grass on the shore of the Banana River, across from the Launch 41 Complex where the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched. In the middle of the image is the rocket itself lifting off the launch pad. Yellow fire spits from the bottom of the rocket and clouds of smoke billow just to the right of the launch pad.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter lifted off this morning at 7:43 AM EDT from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The spacecraft is healthy and communicating with ground controllers and the team is overjoyed!

09-Aug-2005

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch Postponed

Tomorrow morning's launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been postponed by at least one day. At present, liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 7:50 a.m. on August 11.

More details

04-Aug-2005

Countdown Nears: Final Tests

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft performed an integrated system test with its Atlas V rocket on Monday, August 1, 2005, in the Atlas Vertical Integration Facility.

29-Jul-2005

Last Stop: Launch Pad

JPL launch vehicle manager Arden Acord gives the "thumbs up" as the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reaches its final Earth-bound destination – Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

25-Jul-2005

Spacecraft Shrouded: Encapsulation

This image features the large Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft being loaded into its protective fairing in the very white cleanroom of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. The fairing is open and appears “halved.” The inside of the fairing appears grooved; grooves at the top are white, while the lower grooves are black with grayish horizontal lines. Only the left half is visible in this image, with the spacecraft in front of it, slowly being moved inside of it. The spacecraft is stowed – its giant solar panels at its sides like folded wings. The large high-gain antenna dish sits atop the spacecraft, facing upward. In the right background of the photo, technicians and engineers covered completely in white cleanroom suits supervise the operation.

Workers in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility stand by as the first half of the fairing (left) is moved closer to the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (right) for installation. The fairing protects the spacecraft during launch and flight through the atmosphere. Once in space, it is jettisoned. Launch of the orbiter aboard an Atlas V rocket will be from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in a window opening Aug. 10.

20-Jul-2005

Fueled for Flight

In this image, two men are in various stages of gearing up in suits that will protect them as they fuel the Deep Impact Spacecraft. The suits are white with black accents. These suits are distinctly different from regular cleanroom 'bunny suits.' The gloves are large and black and cuffed by a silver protective band. The boots, too, are large, black and secured to the leg by the same type of silver protective band. The entire front of the large head gear is characterized by a clear, curved 'windshield' that, from the outside, reveals the wearer’s entire head – not just his/her eyes as some cleanroom suits do.

Looking like something out of a science fiction movie, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team loaded 1,196 kilograms (2,637 pounds) of fuel onto the vehicle in one of the final steps before launch.

11-Jul-2005

Practice, Practice, Practice: 'Wet Dress Rehearsal'

This image is a view of Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The large Atlas V rocket that will carry the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter through Earth's atmosphere sits tall and majestic against a light blue sky blotted with very faint white clouds. The lower stage of the rocket (closest to the ground) is half copper-colored and half white. The upper stage, which is roughly half the size of the lower stage, is white and gold. White smoke billows from the adaptor area where the stages meet as the 'wet dress rehearsal' is conducted. To the left and right of the rocket sit two large towers that serve as lightning rods to protect the rocket and spacecraft from strikes.

The launch services team at Kennedy Space Center conducted an all-important "wet dress rehearsal" for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission in mid-July, 2005.

During the rehearsal, the Atlas V rocket was fired. Pre-liftoff operations were conducted and the rocket’s engine was fueled.

08-Jul-2005

Fairing Preparing for Farewell

This image features the protective fairing that will encapsulate the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter atop an Atlas V rocket. The lively logo celebrates the intense science mission ahead of the orbiter.

18-May-2005

Getting Closer to Countdown: Spacecraft Undergoes Readiness Tests

In this image, workers wearing blue coveralls (called 'bunny suits'), white hair bonnets and face masks work on the immense Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in a large, white cleanroom at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. On the left side of the image the technicians and engineers are removing one of the large solar panels, about the size of a billboard. On the right side of the image is the spacecraft itself, a large portion of which is covered in protective gold and black thermal blanketing. Multiple cords, used for power and testing, hang from the massive spacecraft bus.

It's no easy task getting Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter ready for launch. Workers stabilize the crane holding one of the enormous billboard-sized solar panels temporarily removed from the spacecraft prior to rigorous testing. This test is one of many "checkups" the spacecraft must undergo to verify its readiness for launch.

30-Apr-2005

Next Vital Step: Spacecraft Delivery

In this image, against the dark backdrop of the Florida night, the 'mouth' of a large Air Force cargo plane is open, revealing one of two large white boxes containing the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The box is more than two times the height of the men standing in front of it, supervising its move off of the aircraft.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was delivered in two large containers from Lockheed Martin to Cape Canaveral on an Air Force C-17 cargo plane. Over the next several months, engineers and technicians will prepare the spacecraft for its scheduled launch in August.

01-Apr-2005

One Step Closer to Launch: Rocket Delivery

This image shows the Atlas V rocket booster being delivered to Cape Canaveral. Under blue skies streaked with thin clouds, technicians supervise the unloading of the large Atlas V rocket booster from a Russian cargo plane. The booster is covered in a protective white cloth. Looking like a great white shark with its mouth wide open, the enormous cargo plane's nose cone is lifted to allow the rocket to be rolled out onto the asphalt 'Skid Strip' at Cape Canaveral.

Lockheed Martin just delivered the Atlas V rocket to Cape Canaveral! The rocket will now go through a series of tests to ensure it's ready to send Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to the red planet. Lift-off is expected on August 10, 2005.