[meteorite-list] Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status - January 7, 2005

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jan 7 15:48:04 2005
Message-ID: <200501072047.MAA21831_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-006

Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Joan Underwood (303) 971-7398
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo.

Dolores Beasley (202) 358-1753
NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Status
January 07, 2005

Even as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers complete a year of successful
operation on Mars, the next major step in Mars Exploration is taking
shape with preparation of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for launch
in just seven months.

The orbiter is undergoing environmental tests in facilities at Lockheed
Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo., where its Atlas V launch vehicle
is also being prepared. Developments are on schedule for a launch window
that begins on Aug. 10.

"The development teams from JPL, Lockheed Martin and the various
institutions providing flight instruments have been working hard and
efficiently as a team. Everything has really come together in the last
couple of months," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Jim
Graf of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The schedule
remains tight, even as we continue to meet our major milestones in
preparation for a late summer launch. And I am really excited about what
this spacecraft, this team and these instruments can do once we get to
Mars. The spacecraft engineering bus and the science instruments will be
the most capable ever sent to another planet. The science gleaned from
this mission will dramatically expand our understanding of Mars."

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter carries six primary instruments: the
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, Context Camera, Mars Color
Imager, Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, Mars
Climate Sounder and Shallow Radar. All but the imaging spectrometer are
currently onboard. That instrument is the last of several that had been
installed but were removed so the science teams could replace an
electrical component. It will be re-delivered this month. The orbiter
will also carry a telecommunications relay package and two engineering
demonstrations.

"We're moving at a robust pace in the testing phase now and we're right
on track for getting the spacecraft ready to ship to Florida this
spring," said Kevin McNeill, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter program manager
at Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been
a great spacecraft to work on, in part because we used an 'open
structure' design that allows our engineers and the science teams to
work in and around the spacecraft during every phase of integration and
testing, with even greater ease and accessibility than we've had on
previous missions. In many respects, the open design has facilitated the
integration and testing of the spacecraft. We'll be in the final phase
of testing during the next four months. Then, it's off to Florida."

Located just a few buildings away from where the spacecraft is
undergoing tests at Lockheed Martin's facilities near Denver, the
company also is building the mission's Atlas V launch vehicle. The Atlas
V, designated AV-007, will launch Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in August
from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas is undergoing
final assembly and testing, and will be shipped to Cape Canaveral in
March to be readied for launch.

Less than two years from now, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will begin
a series of global mapping, regional survey and targeted observations
from a near-polar, low-altitude Mars orbit. These observations will be
unprecedented in terms of the spatial resolution and coverage achieved
by the orbiter's instruments as they observe the atmosphere and surface
of Mars while probing its shallow subsurface as part of a "follow the
water" strategy.

JPL's Dr. Rich Zurek, project scientist for the Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, said, "The major discoveries by the Mars Exploration Rovers at
the Meridiani and Gusev Crater locales indicate that water did persist
on the surface of the planet for some time, so a 'follow the water'
strategy is appropriate. However, the rovers have explored just two very
small areas of the planet. A goal of this mission is to find many, many
locales where water was active on the surface for extended periods and
thereby provide a suite of sites for future landers to explore where the
potential for further discovery is high and the risk of encountering
surface hazards is low."

Additional information about the project is available online at
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission is managed by JPL, a division of
the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the
prime contractor for the project.
Received on Fri 07 Jan 2005 03:47:43 PM PST