The Mars Global Surveyor, launched in November 1996, went into an elliptical orbit around Mars on 11 September, 1997. To drop into a lower orbit the original mission plan was to use a braking effect by dipping into the upper Martian atmosphere. The lower orbit was a better position for mapping purposes. However, the aerobraking method originally planned was suspended for several weeks to give engineers time to develop more gentle manoeuvres to protect the craft when a solar array failed to deploy correctly, and was flexing excessively. It was to spend two years mapping the surface of Mars. Reference: history.nasa.gov/SP-4012v7ch4.pdf, Retrieved 12 November, 2011
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:30:01 +0000
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