Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Update Thread

[halman]

It was interesting to read that probes are never launched directly at Mars, to avoid the possibility of the upper stage of the booster hitting Mars. I never imagined that there would be enough velocity from the booster burn for a stage to reach Mars. It seems like this is the first probe to go direct to its destination without having to circle most of the inner planets at least once in a long time. And this bird is actually going to get there in less than a year! That almost seems strange, like they slipped up and used a real rocket. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> The secret to peace of mind is a short attention span. </div>

 

[larper]

All probes to Mars have gone directly there, no gravity assist required for any of them. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Vote </font><font color="#3366ff">Libertarian</font></strong></p> </div>

 

[mikejz]

Well, if you don't could that probe from Japan that had all those problems.

 

[space_student]

HiRISE test images of the moon have been posted at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/

 

[spacester]

Every time a probe goes to Mars, there's an outcry about the release of the data and there's an outcry about taking "true color" images. Maybe this time we can talk about it a bit more while we're still in cruise phase.<br /><br />What is the official plan for making the data public?<br /><br />What is the exact nature of the "photography" equipment? Is it possible to take "true color" images, or are we restricted to composites of filtered images? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[kane007]

I would think, that due to NASA's strong philosophical belief that they a civilian agency and are behold to the US taxpayer, that they will do their damnedest to get all information into the public domain as quick as possible. Sort of like previous missions.<br /><br /><i><font color="yellow">"keep it simple, stupid!"</font></i>/safety_wrapper>

 

[space_student]

This may be of interest (from http://marsoweb.nas.nasa.gov/HiRISE/public.html ):<br /><br />"The science community and the broader public as a whole are encouraged to participate in HiRISE targeting and data analysis."<br /><br />"Anyone may submit suggested image targets, give short justification and list of constraints (e.g. season, signal-to-noise ratio, resolution, etc.). Science community suggestions will be routed to appropriate HiRISE Co-Investigators for consideration for targeting by HiRISE. Public suggestions will be filtered to minimize duplication and frivolous input. NASA Quest and other partners will host web events and workshops to educate the public to encourage high quality suggestions."<br /><br />"Users will generate a variety of geologic feature databases and may participate in image validation for the HiRISE team."<br /><br />I know that Alfred McEwen, the instrument PI, has personally pushed for HiRISE data to be immediately available to the public, in contrast to certain people in Southern California <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[jaredgalen]

If it is made public fairly lively, that means I have to get me a HUUUUGE harddrive <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Going by the earth and moon look back image HiRISE took, I'll need it. <br />Also MER and the Cassini releases have been hugely appreciated by the amatuer community I believe so<br />hopefully MRO will follow in their footsteps.<br />

 

[jaredgalen]

Speaking of lots of data, today press release regarding MRO.<br />http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-146<br /><br />"The instruments and the ground data system passed this test with flying colors," said Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Manager Jim Graf of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We received 75 gigabits of data in less than 24 hours, which is a new one-day record for any interplanetary mission." <br /><br />Cool <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" />

 

[simonastro]

it was put off 2 days,still,i'm glad it was successfully launched

 

[najab]

The last post in this thread was 2 months ago - I'm unstickifying it to make room for the Venus Express thread.

 

[yurkin]

Halfway there<br />http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2005-164

 

[telfrow]

<b>Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Tweaks Course, Passes Halfway Point</b><br /><br /><i>NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter successfully fired six engines for about 20 seconds today to adjust its flight path in advance of its March 10, 2006, arrival at the red planet. </i><br /><br />Full story here: http://www.physorg.com/news8346.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[telfrow]

<b>NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Southern Cross (Constellation Crux) Star Calibration Image </b><br /><br /><i>Imaging stars while a Mars-bound spacecraft is in its cruise phase provides a good way to verify that a camera is in good focus, following the rigors of the launch from Florida. It also allows measurement of the camera's alignment relative to the other instruments on the spacecraft. <br /><br />On 14 December 2005, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) slewed across the southern contellation Crux (popularly known as the Southern Cross) and the Context Imager (CTX) took an image. With its 5.7° wide field, CTX was able to cover the entire grouping of stars. Each line of the image was exposed for 22.9 milliseconds, and the whole image took a little under 4 minutes to acquire. <br /><br />The image shown here is a composite, with each star expanded by a factor of 2, but positioned in its correct location. The image has also been linearized and contrast-enhanced. The angle between the star Acrux and the star Gacrux is about 6 degrees. The compact star images indicate that CTX is in good focus and performing well. Additional analysis of the precise star positions will be used to ensure that maps of Mars made from CTX data will be accurate.</i><br /><br />Photo and complete story here: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=19116 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[kane007]

MRO is about to transition from cruise phase to approach phase.<br /><br />SpaceDaily.com<br /><br /><i>"Cruise is a deceptive term - we certainly weren't playing shuffleboard," joked project manager Jim Graf. "It was a very busy time for the team. Many tests were conducted to ensure that the instruments onboard were functioning properly and our navigators performed trajectory correction maneuvers to keep us on a very precise path to Mars."<br /><br />Speaking of that precision, the third of four possible course corrections was deemed unnecessary this week.<br /><br />"The navigation solutions have shown a great consistency since the second trajectory correction maneuver was executed on November 18," said Han You, navigation team chief. "More importantly, the current data indicate that the spacecraft aim for insertion into Mars' orbit is well within the projected target. If the current trend continues, the spacecraft will require only a very small nudge to fine tune the final aim."<br /><br />The next trajectory correction maneuver opportunity is scheduled for February 28, 2006. The orbiter will arrive at the planet on March 10, 2006.</i>

 

[spacester]

bump <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[rybanis]

I concur. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[telfrow]

<b>Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Approaches Red Planet</b><br /><br /><i>The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is scheduled to arrive on time at the Red Planet in two weeks, NASA officials announced today at a press conference held at agency headquarters in Washington D.C.<br /><br />“The journey from Earth to Mars takes 300 million miles. We are about 15 million miles away, so we’re 95% there and we are right on the money now heading toward our encounter with Mars on March 10,” said Jim Graf, MRO project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).</i><br /><br />------<br /><br /><i>“We are getting into the dangerous part of the mission,” added Graf. “We have accomplished an awful lot during cruise [phase], but now we’re starting to enter the realm where we have lost two spacecraft in 15 years.”</i><br /><br /> Link <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[themanwithoutapast]

Request for sticky thread here, MRO is going into critical phase.

 

[kane007]

2 days 11 hours to launch (hopefully) at time of writting. <br /> <br />I haven't noticed an update thread yet so hopefully this will get the chatter going. <br /> <br />Updates at MRO Home.

 

[telfrow]

I agree. <br /><br /><i>Edit:</i> I just entered a request. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Ask and ye shall receive! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[earth_bound_misfit]

"Ask and ye shall receive!"<br /><br />Can you please send me a million dollars? PM for delivery details <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>Wanna see this site looking like the old SDC uplink?</p><p>Go here to see how: <strong>SDC Eye saver </strong>  </p> </div>

 

[kane007]

Fingers crossed on that day - which will be 11 March NZST (New Zealand Standard time +12hr GMT) - that'll be a quite tense 27 minutes.

 

[voyagerwsh]

My best wishes to MRO's orbit insertion! Good Luck, MRO!