The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) might look like this as it orbits Mars.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a robot spacecraft that is orbiting Mars. It will study Mars from November 2006 to November 2008. It will take lots of pictures and gather lots of data about Mars.
MRO is a big spacecraft. It is bigger than other Mars orbiters that went to Mars before MRO. MRO also has the most powerful camera that has ever flown on mission to another planet. That camera is called HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment). Cameras on earlier Mars orbiters could spot objects on Mars the size of a dinner table. HiRISE will zoom in to spot objects on Mars as small as a dinner plate.
MRO has two other cameras. One of those cameras, plus an instrument called a radiometer, will study the atmosphere of Mars. MRO carries another instrument called a spectrometer. The spectrometer will make a map of the minerals on the surface of Mars. MRO also has radar that will search for ice underground on Mars.
MRO will make better maps of Mars. It will help scientists decide where future missions to Mars should go. It might even help us decide where the first people who go to Mars should land!
You might also be interested in:
What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences?
...moreSince 1960, the Russian and American space agencies have sent many spacecraft to Mars. Some have been a great success while others didn't even make it into space! Mariner 4 was the first mission to make
...more The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth, with a surface pressure averaging 1/100th that at the surface of the Earth. Surface temperatures range from -113oC at the winter pole to 0oC
...moreThe surface of Mars consists of highlands and lowlands. The highlands are in the southern hemisphere (the bottom of the figure), and the lowlands are in the northern hemisphere of Mars (top of the figure).
...moreThere seems to be no running water on the surface of Mars today even though there is evidence for running water, including river channels such as those shown here, and there are frozen, icy polar caps.
...moreMars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a robot spacecraft that is orbiting Mars. It will study Mars from November 2006 to November 2008. It will take lots of pictures and gather lots of data about Mars.
...moreThe Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) was launched at 10:39 a.m., August 25, 1997. The ACE was launched aboard a Delta II rocket. Mission lifetime is expected to be five years for the overall mission.
...more To learn more about a specific mission from the Apollo program, the most successful and expensive space program in human history, select one of the links below: Apollo 1 Apollo 7 Apollo 8 Apollo 9 Apollo
...more