Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
MRO is NASA’s biggest and most powerful orbiter circling
Mars. It was launched on August 12, 2005 atop an Atlas V
rocket from Florida, and achieved orbit over seven years
ago on March 10, 2006. Like its smaller cousin Mars Odyssey,
it used several months of aerobraking maneuvers to attain
its final science orbit to preserve precious fuel and extend
the mission lifetime.
MRO is equipped with six science instruments, including
the HiRISE high resolution camera and two others, the
CRISM mineral mapping spectrometer and the
SHARAD subsurface radar hunting for signatures of
water and internal geological structures.
The torrent of spectral data and tens of
thousands of imagery from MRO has completely
revolutionized our understanding of the Red
Planet.
HiRISE is the largest diameter telescope ever
sent on a mission to deep space. It’s like having
a spy camera at Mars and sports a resolution of
about 1 foot from an altitude of about 200 miles.
Besides science, the high resolution HiRISE camera
was used to hunt for safe landing sites for all the
recent rovers and landers over the past seven years. And
CRISM was a significant aid as well in selecting the most
scientifically compelling landing sites based on the spectral
data searching for clues to water and minerals that could
support Mars life.
And after the rovers safely touched down, the HiRISE
images are also used in real time to track and direct the
robots along safe and swift driving paths with the best
science return and also avoid potentially deadly quagmires,
as much as possible.
HiRISE is so powerful that it even captured the iconic
images of Phoenix and Curiosity during their parachute
assisted descents to the surface.
Recently, NASA approved the use of CRISM to capture
special new high resolution spectral scans of minerals that
are absolutely crucial for directing the long lived Opportunity
rover’s hunt for signatures of habitability atop the intriguing
mountain named Solander that she will soon ascend.
New CRISM observations centered over Solander Point
were acquired during August 2013, according to Ray
Arvidson, who is the mission’s deputy principal scientific
investigator from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo.
Photos and renderings:
Page 12: Mars Global Surveyor acquired this global map of Mars in September
of 2000 (NASA/JPL/MSSS). Page 13: Arabia Dunes (NASA/JPL-Caltech/
ASU), Rendering of Odyssey orbiting Mars (NASA/JPL). Page 14: Opportunity’s
Nav Camera took this photo on Sol 3391 (NASA/JPL-Caltech). Rendering of
Opportunity (NASA/JPL-Caltech). Page 15: The Serpent Dust Devil of Mars (NASA/
JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona). Rendering of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA/
JPL-Caltech). Page 16: Hebes Chasma photographed by Mars Express (ESA/
DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum). Rendering of Mars Express (ESA/Medialab). Page 17:
Point Lake Outcrop in Gale Crater (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS). Self portrait of
Curiosity (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS).
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