The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - More Than Just A Pretty Robot - Page 2

The SHARAD instrument will seek liquid or frozen water within the
first few hundred feet (up to a kilometer) under the martian surface.

"Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible Martian life, past or present."

Two additional scientific investigations will analyze the motion of the spacecraft in orbit to study the structure of the upper atmosphere and the Martian gravity field.

"We will keep pursuing a follow-the-water strategy with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Dr. Michael Meyer, Mars exploration chief scientist at NASA Headquarters. "Dramatic discoveries by Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Exploration Rovers about recent gullies, near-surface permafrost and ancient surface water have given us a new Mars in the past few years."

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Using its Mars Climate Sounder.

Using nine channels across the visible and thermal infrared ranges of the
spectrum, the Mars Climate Sounder looks first at space through the
atmosphere above the horizon of Mars to get a vertical profile with temperature,
pressure, dust opacity and water vapor concentration measurements every 5
kilometers (3 miles) in the vertical from the ground to 80 km (~50 miles).
It also looks down onto the planet to get surface temperature
and column abundances of dust and water vapor.

Dr. Richard Zurek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., project scientist for the orbiter, said, "Higher resolution is a major driver for this mission. Every time we look with increased resolution, Mars has said, 'Here's something you didn't expect. You don't understand me yet.' We're sure to find surprises."

The Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter is a massive and capable spacecraft;
it dwarfs its predecessors, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey.

The orbiter will reach Mars in March 2006. It will gradually adjust the shape of its orbit by aerobraking, a technique that uses the friction of careful dips into the planet's upper atmosphere. For the mission's 25-month primary science phase, beginning in November 2006, the planned orbit averages about 190 miles above the surface, more than 20 percent lower than the average for any of the three current Mars orbiters. The lower orbit adds to the ability to see Mars as it has never
been seen before.

Article Author: Bennett Dawson

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