New post added at INSIDE OUTER SPACE - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: Mapping Mars in High Definition insideouterspace.net/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter-mapping-mars-in-high-definition/ NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes over the planets south polar region in this artists concept illustration. The orbiters shallow radar experiment, one of six science instruments on board, is designed to probe the internal structure of Mars polar ice caps, as well as to gather information planet-wide about underground layers of ice, rock and, perhaps, liquid water that might be accessible from the surface. Phobos, one of Mars two moons, appears in the upper left corner of the illustration. ImageCredit: NASA/JPL/Corby Waste The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has beamed back fascinating images from Mars and has made some startling discoveries. The spacecraft carries NASAs most powerful orbital cameras, as well as radar and other instruments. MRO will probably be best remembered for finding ice and other evidence of water on Mars, and its imagery of Comet Siding Spring in 2014. Its powerful camera also watched dust devils go across the surface, and sand dunes change in real time. The orbiter also spent months searching for a suitable landing spot for the Mars Curiosity rover; today, it serves as a communications relay for Curiosity and another rover, Opportunity. However, the spacecraft has also had multiple problems, including an incident in 2009 that saw all science stop for several months. Super-speed data MRO launched Aug. 12, 2005, on top of an Atlas V rocket with a suite of science instruments on board. TheHiRISE camera(High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) would peer at things on the surface, while the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) would watch over storms and clouds. Also on board were items such as radar, a spectrometer and a gravity field investigation package. While pictures and video and searches for water are what tend to get the public excited about Mars, the scientists were also salivating about something different with MRO: itsdata capability. Before launch, NASA promised that the spacecraft would beam back information three times faster than a conventional broadband telephone connection. This meant that scientists would receive information faster than ever before — which would be especially important when sending back data from rovers and other spacecraft on the surface of the Red Planet. MRO tested out its super-speed capabilities in September, when it snapped some pictures of Earths moon from 6 million miles (10 million kilometers) away. It then sent back 75 gigabits of data to Earth, which is the equivalent of about 13 CDs of information. That was a record amount of data at the time. Near the lower left corner of this view is the three-petal lander platform (circled) that NASAs Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove off in January 2004.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona Aerobraking and money shots The spacecraftmade it into Martian orbit on March 10, 2006, and began beaming back images right away while putting itself into the correct orbit. MRO used a technique called aerobraking —brushing against the Martian atmosphere— to adjust its orbit. This process saves fuel and money, but takes a lot of time. MRO completed the challenging maneuvers successfully in September, after six months of adjustments. One of MROs first targets was theOpportunity rover. Opportunity, which had outlasted its 90-day mission by more than two years in October 2006, wason the edge of the Victoria crater. MRO sent a high-resolution picture not only showing the rover and its tracks, but also a shadow cast by the golf-cart sized vehicle on Mars. After snapping some pictures of Opportunitys twin, Spirit, as well as the twoViking landersthat arrived in 1976 — some obvious public relations shots — MROs team then had progressed far enough to begin releasing science results. In December 2006, some of MROs first radar observations and pictures focused on layers of ice near the poles. These deposits record relatively recent climate variations on Mars, like recent ice ages on Earth, said Ken Herkenhoff, from the U.S. Geological Survey, in a press release issued that month. Safe mode scrapes But MROs high-resolution pictures briefly came under threat. In February 2007, NASA reported that theHiRISE camera was experiencing problemswith bad pixels and other image noise in some of the camera detectors. The problem appeared to be worsening with time, which could impact the mission down the road. Another instrument also had trouble that appeared to be resolved at that time. Later that year, the camera problem appeared to be holding steady and not getting any worse. NASA traced the problem to a design flaw and noted that it successfully took steps to address it. In March 2007, MRO put itself into safe mode and switched itself to a backup computer. The spacecraft has done that occasionally in the years since then, but has always remained in contact with Earth for reboots and remote repairs. The worst incident occurred in 2009, when NASAsuspended science operations for monthswhile making fixes in an attempt to resolve the issue. Frequent orbital computer resets prompted NASA to send a software upgrade to the ailing craft. Then, managers carefully brought MRO out of safe mode to resume work Dec. 16. Its good to have the instruments back on, said MRO mission manager Dan Johnston of NASAsJet Propulsion Laboratoryin December 2009. This has been a long stand-down. Now were ready to resume our science and relay mission. MROunderwent another glitch in March 2014after it unexpectedly swapped computers, triggering an automatic safe mode. The spacecraft was considered successfully recovered in about a week, and resumed regular science operations shortly afterwards. An illustration of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter based on the final design. Orbital science Part of MROs work involved searching for suitable Curiosity landing sites, as well as relaying information from the Spirit, Opportunity and Phoenix spacecraft. When Phoenix went out of contact with Earth, MRO snapped a pictureshowing ice and damage on the spacecraft. In general, MRO is a powerful tool in helping spacecraft roaming on the surface stay in touch with Earth. Additionally, MRO has spent several years charting the effect of wind and water on the Red Planet — as well as giving clues into Mars wet past. A dune in the northern polar region of Mars shows significant changes between two images taken on June 25, 2008 and May 21, 2010 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Ariz./JHUAPL In 2007, MRO scrutinized two Martian gullies previously imaged by Mars Global Surveyor. Researchers earlier speculated that changes in the gullies came from flowing water, but the new, sharper MRO images revealed these are likely from landslides of loose, dry materials. Later that year, MRO beamed back pictures of puzzling features on Mars that scientists dubbedspiders and lizard skin.Researchers said the strange shapes were probably due to carbon dioxide gas popping out in the spring and shaping the terrain. Bright fans of material spotted on the surface were likely carbon dioxide frost. One of MROs greatest finds came in 2008, when the orbiter spottedclay-rich rockin Mawrth Vallis. This channel, in the northern hemisphere of the Red Planet, has several different types of clay overlying each other. Scientists said this probably happened when water mixed with the basalt that the northern highlands are known for. Later that year, the spacecraftbeamed back evidence of opal(or hydrated silica) sprawling across Mars — a big calling card for water. According to scientists, water on the Red Planet was present as recently as 2 billion years ago, which is a billion years later than previously believed. Water, wind and carbon dioxide In later years, MRO has seen avalanches,dust devils and rock fractures from orbit, giving close-up views of changes on Mars over several years. The spacecraft found other signs of water as well, withburied glaciersas well as ice poking around meteorite craters. Weve also learned new things about theatmosphere of Marscourtesy of the spacecraft. As the planets tilt changes, liquid water on the surface is also affected as well as the number and severity of Mars famous dust storms. A 2010 discovery ofmassive frozen carbon dioxide depositsat the south pole led scientists to believe that dry ice enters the atmosphere when Mars increases the tilt of its axis. High-resolution imagery of the surface continues to come back from MRO, includingobservations of “ice spiders”andsand dunesin 2014. The spacecraft alsobeamed back stunning imagery of Comet Siding Springwhen the celestial visitor flew relatively close to the planet in October 2014. Its pictures of the comet, which whizzed by 86,000 miles (138,000 kilometers) away, were described by NASA at the time as “the highest-resolution views ever acquired of a comet coming from theOort Cloudat the fringes of the solar system.” MROs prime mission ended in December 2010, but NASA believes the spacecraft can still perform well until at least 2015. That will be important given theincreased science that Curiosityis performing with its high-resolution cameras and roving science laboratory. The rover mission will beam back massive amounts of data through MRO for years to come. Additional resources
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 07:41:08 +0000
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