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Mission overview

An artist's concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled for launch in August 2005, is on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time. While other Mars missions have shown that water flowed across the surface in Mars' history, it remains a mystery whether water was ever around long enough to provide a habitat for life.

A Mission to Study the History of Water on Mars
After a seven-month cruise to Mars and six months of aerobraking to reach its science orbit, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will seek to find out about the history of water on Mars with its science instruments. They will zoom in for extreme close-up photography of the martian surface, analyze minerals, look for subsurface water, trace how much dust and water are distributed in the atmosphere, and monitor daily global weather.

These studies will help determine if there are deposits of minerals that form in water over long periods of time, detect any shorelines of ancient seas and lakes, and analyze deposits placed in layers over time by flowing water. It will also be able to tell if the underground martian ice discovered by the Mars Odyssey orbiter is the top layer of a deep ice deposit or whether it is a shallow layer in equilibrium with the current atmosphere and its seasonal cycle of water vapor.

Looking at Small-Scale Features

In its survey of the red planet, Mars Reconnaissance will increase tenfold the number of spots surveyed close-up. One of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's cameras is the largest ever flown on a planetary mission. While previous cameras on other Mars orbiters could identify objects no smaller than a school bus, this camera will be able to spot something as small as a dinner table. That capability will also allow the orbiter to identify obstacles like large rocks that could jeopardize the safety of future landers and rovers. Its imaging spectrometer will also be able to look at small-scale areas about five times smaller than a football field, at a scale perfect for identifying any hot springs or other small water features.

Powerful Communications and Navigation Link

The orbiter's telecommunications systems will also establish a crucial service for future spacecraft, becoming the first link in a communications bridge back to Earth, an "interplanetary Internet" that can be used by numerous international spacecraft in coming years. Testing the use of a radio frequency called Ka-band, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter may demonstrate the potential for greater performance in communications using significantly less power.

The orbiter also carries an experimental navigation camera. If it performs well, similar cameras placed on orbiters of the future would be able to serve as high-precision interplanetary "eyes" to guide incoming landers to precise landings on Mars, opening up exciting - but otherwise dangerous - areas of the planet to exploration.

The orbiter's primary mission ends about five-and-a-half years after launch, on December 31, 2010.

More information about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available online at http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro .

Mission news

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Is Already Breaking Records

20th October, 2005

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's image of the Moon. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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

An unprecedented amount of data - the equivalent of 13 CDs - was returned by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission in a single day! NASA's latest mission to Mars sent 75 gigabits of data back to Earth from millions of miles away, including beautiful pictures of the Moon.

A preview of what's to come with this mighty mission, the spacecraft calibrated its high-resolution camera, using the Moon as its subject. Calibrations of space cameras are, essentially, adjustments to ensure optimal picture taking. On Sept. 8, 2005, the Moon - half bathed in the sun's glow and half draped in darkness - showed off all of its pocks and dimples for the powerful HiRISE camera. The successful calibration bodes well for the capture of stunning and enlightening images at the red planet.

The camera took the shot while at a distance of about 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) from the Moon. The dark feature on the right is Mare Crisium. From that distance, the Moon would appear as a star-like point of light to the unaided eye. The test verified the camera's focusing capability and provided an opportunity for calibration. The spacecraft's Context Camera and Optical Navigation Camera also performed as expected during the test.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched on Aug. 12, 2005, is on course to reach Mars on March 10, 2006. After gradually adjusting the shape of its orbit for half a year, it will begin its primary science phase in November 2006. From the mission's planned science orbit about 300 kilometers (186 miles) above the surface of Mars, the high resolution camera will be able to discern features as small as one meter or yard across.