Mro-launch qxp

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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

Mars Reconnaissance

Orbiter Launch

Press Kit

August 2005

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Media Contacts

Dolores Beasley 

Policy/Program Management 

202/358-1753

Headquarters

[e-mail]

Washington, D.C.

Guy Webster 

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission  

818/354-5011

Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

[e-mail]

Pasadena, Calif.

George Diller

Launch

321/867-2468

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

[e-mail]

Joan Underwood

Spacecraft & Launch Vehicle

303/971-7398

Lockheed Martin Space Systems

[e-mail]

Denver, Colo.

Contents

General Release ..................................………………………..........................................…..... 3

Media Services Information ………………………………………..........................................…..... 5

Quick Facts ………………………………………………………................................….………… 6

Mars at a Glance ………………………………………………………..................................………. 7

Where We've Been and Where We're Going ……………………................…………................... 8

Science Investigations ............................................................................................................... 12

Technology Objectives .............................................................................................................. 21

Mission Overview ……………...………………………………………...............................………. 22

Spacecraft ................................................................................................................................. 33

Mars: The Water Trail …………………………………………………………………...............…… 38

Historical Mars Missions …………………………………………………....................................… 44

Program/Project Management ……………………………………………..................................… 45

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GENERAL RELEASE:

NASA'S NEW MARS ORBITER WILL SHARPEN VISION OF EXPLORATION

NASA's next mission to Mars will examine the red planet in unprecedented detail from

low orbit and provide more data about the intriguing planet than all previous missions

combined. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its launch vehicle are nearing final

stages of preparation at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for a launch opportunity

that begins Aug. 10. 

The spacecraft will examine Martian features ranging from the top of the atmosphere

to underground layering. Researchers will use it to study the history and distribution of

Martian water. It will also support future Mars missions by characterizing landing sites

and providing a high-data-rate communications relay.

"Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is the next step in our ambitious exploration of Mars,"

said Douglas McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program in NASA’s Science

Mission Directorate. "We expect to use this spacecraft's eyes in the sky in coming

years as our primary tools to identify and evaluate the best places for future missions

to land." 

The spacecraft carries six instruments for probing the atmosphere, surface and subsur-

face to characterize the planet and how it changed over time. One of the science pay-

load's three cameras will be the largest-diameter telescopic camera ever sent to anoth-

er planet. It will reveal rocks and layers as small as the width of an office desk. Another

camera will expand the present area of high-resolution coverage by a factor of 10. A

third will provide global maps of Martian weather. 

The other three instruments are a spectrometer for identifying water-related minerals in

patches as small as a baseball infield; a ground-penetrating radar, supplied by the

Italian Space Agency, to peer beneath the surface for layers or rock, ice and, if pre-

sent, water; and a radiometer to monitor atmospheric dust, water vapor and tempera-

ture.

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. Learning more about what has

happened to the water will focus searches for possible Martian life, past or present." 

Dr. Richard Zurek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project sci-

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entist 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 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.

To get information from its instruments to Earth, the orbiter carries the biggest antenna

ever sent to Mars and a transmitter powered by large solar panels. "It can send 10

times as much data per minute as any previous Mars spacecraft," said JPL's James

Graf, project manager. "This increased return multiplies the value of the instruments by

permitting increased coverage of the surface at higher resolution than ever before. The

same telecommunications gear will be used to relay critical science data to Earth from

landers."  

To loft so big a spacecraft, weighing more than two tons fully fueled, NASA will use a

powerful Atlas V launch vehicle for the first time on an interplanetary mission.

The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology,

Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space

Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. 

For information about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on the Web, visit

http://www.nasa.gov/mro

- End of General Release -

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