CTX (camera)

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Artist's impression of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
Mission type	Mars orbiter
Operator	NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID	2005-029A
SATCAT no.	28788
Website	marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/ www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/main/index.html
Mission duration	Primary mission: two years Elapsed:12 years and 5 days from launch 11 years, 5 months and 7 days (4066 sols) at Mars
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin / University of Arizona / APL / ASI / Malin Space Science Systems
Launch mass	2,180 kg (4,810 lb)
Dry mass	1,031 kg (2,273 lb)
Payload mass	139 kg (306 lb)
Power	2,000.0 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	12 August 2005, 11:43:00 (2005-08-12UTC11:43Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas V 401
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-41
Contractor	ILS
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Areocentric
Regime	Sun-synchronous
Inclination	93 degrees
Mars orbiter
Orbital insertion	10 March 2006, 21:24:00 UTC MSD 46990 12:48 AMT 20 Dhanus 211 Darian
Official insignia of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and exploration of Mars from orbit. The US$720 million spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin under the supervision of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The mission is managed by the California Institute of Technology, at the JPL, in Pasadena, California, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. It was launched August 12, 2005, and attained Martian orbit on March 10, 2006. In November 2006, after five months of aerobraking, it entered its final science orbit and began its primary science phase. As MRO entered orbit, it joined five other active spacecraft that were either in orbit or on the planet's surface: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express, 2001 Mars Odyssey, and the two Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity); at the time, this set a record for the most operational spacecraft in the immediate vicinity of Mars. Mars Global Surveyor and the Spirit rover have since ceased to function; the remainder remain operational as of September 2016.

MRO contains a host of scientific instruments such as cameras, spectrometers, and radar, which are used to analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of Mars. It paves the way for future spacecraft by monitoring Mars' daily weather and surface conditions, studying potential landing sites, and hosting a new telecommunications system. MRO's telecommunications system will transfer more data back to Earth than all previous interplanetary missions combined, and MRO will serve as a highly capable relay satellite for future missions.