Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - Orbit Insertion
Today, March 10th, at 3:50pm Eastern Time the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) begins a critical orbit insertion maneuver. Only two of the last four missions to Mars have succeeded in this phase of the mission (Spirit and Opportunity). An orbit insertion is where a spacecraft passes close to a planet or other body and fires it's engines to slow down enough to be "captured" by the gravity of the planet. If all goes well, the MRO will take 35 hours to complete the orbit insertion. There will be a 30 minute window during the maneuver where the MRO will disappear from radio contact behind Mars. This wait will be nail-biting at NASA, but if it succeeds, MRO will be able to fulfill a two year (one Martian year) mission to further map the planet in greater detail. MRO is expected to return approximately 34 terabits of data (over six and half thousand CDROMs), more than all other planetary missions combined. After it's primary mission is complete it will act as a communications relay satellite for other future missions to Mars.
Today, March 10th, at 3:50pm Eastern Time the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) begins a critical orbit insertion maneuver. Only two of the last four missions to Mars have succeeded in this phase of the mission (Spirit and Opportunity). An orbit insertion is where a spacecraft passes close to a planet or other body and fires it's engines to slow down enough to be "captured" by the gravity of the planet.
If all goes well, the MRO will take 35 hours to complete the orbit insertion. There will be a 30 minute window during the maneuver where the MRO will disappear from radio contact behind Mars. This wait will be nail-biting at NASA, but if it succeeds, MRO will be able to fulfill a two year (one Martian year) mission to further map the planet in greater detail. MRO is expected to return approximately 34 terabits of data (over six and half thousand CDROMs), more than all other planetary missions combined. After it's primary mission is complete it will act as a communications relay satellite for other future missions to Mars.
