MRO returns first images
Posted: Sat, Mar 25, 2006, 5:44 PM ET (2244 GMT)
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft transmitted its first images of the Martian surface on Friday, two weeks after entering orbit around the planet. The images were taken late Thursday night by three cameras on the spacecraft as part of engineering tests of the instruments. The images were taken while the spacecraft was more than 2,000 km above the surface, much higher than the spacecraft's final orbit, but still yielded images comparable to the highest-resolution pictures of the Martian surface ever taken, according to NASA officials. MRO has been in an elliptical orbit since arriving at the planet on March 10. The spacecraft will soon begin a series of aerobraking passes through the upper Martian atmosphere to lower and circularize its orbit, a process that will last about six months.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft transmitted its first images of the Martian surface on Friday, two weeks after entering orbit around the planet. The images were taken late Thursday night by three cameras on the spacecraft as part of engineering tests of the instruments. The images were taken while the spacecraft was more than 2,000 km above the surface, much higher than the spacecraft's final orbit, but still yielded images comparable to the highest-resolution pictures of the Martian surface ever taken, according to NASA officials. MRO has been in an elliptical orbit since arriving at the planet on March 10. The spacecraft will soon begin a series of aerobraking passes through the upper Martian atmosphere to lower and circularize its orbit, a process that will last about six months.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Apex becomes billion-dollar company with $200 million Series D round
Posted: Sun, Sep 14 4:09 AM ET (0809 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, September 15
Elon Musk's Starlink reports service outage, thousands of users affected
Reuters — 1:23 am ET (0523 GMT) What does the loss of U.S. Space Command mean to Colorado Springs?
Denver Post — 1:21 am ET (0521 GMT) SpaceX Launches Northrop Grumman Cargo Ship To ISS
Aviation Week — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Sunday
WESH-TV Orlando — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) Apollo 13 made Jim Lovell a legend generations after the space race
The Hill — 1:09 am ET (0509 GMT) |
