Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

Palomar · 2004-07-13 07:40:19

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-gen … .html]Read me

*Will weigh in at 4800 pounds -- which will make it 3 times heavier than Odyssey and twice as heavy as MGS.

Atlas rocket will launch it. Personnel working on the mission are made to stand up throughout meetings; the mission leader says discomfort makes people more quick to express ideas and trouble-shoot.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2004-07-13 07:50:45

Brilliant! I can't wait.
I've heard the high-res. camera on this orbiter will produce unbelievable pictures.

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2004-07-19 07:39:29

great idea, I'm looking forward to hearing more about this one

SBird · 2004-08-06 12:45:04

http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/]here

Here's the homepage for MRO. IIRC, I posted some stuff on this a while back but I can't find the post. I'm more excited about this mission than most of the other Mars missions in the pipeline. The scientific instruments on this probe put our previous ones to shame. In addition, it represents a quantum leap in space probe technology. It's got a high bandwidth comm system that will end up transmitting more data than all of the other deep space probes in history put together.

The imaging camera alone is simply amazing. I was looking at the technical stats and the design for the thing is wonderfully clever. Furthermore, it will have the ability to see sub-meter objects on the surface. Perhaps we'll finally get to see where Beagle ended up cratering.

Also NASA is gearing up for future lander missions and manned missions by including an advanced tracking system that will help to guide landers to Mars with much greater precision so that they can land in an area defined in a few km rather than hundreds of km.

Palomar · 2004-08-10 07:13:45

The imaging camera alone is simply amazing. I was looking at the technical stats and the design for the thing is wonderfully clever. Furthermore, it will have the ability to see sub-meter objects on the surface.

*Hi SBird:

Yep. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-gen … u.html]MRO in final assembly!

That camera system will be able to image Mars features the size of a kitchen table. Launch vehicle will be an Atlas V.

Launch date can commence as early as August 10, 2005. :up:

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-08-10 11:37:45

These are all great probes launched every two years to Mars but until we can get real funding for man to go it will only be just pictures to go ahhh, ouu and lots of other awe vocalizations.
The real pleasure is in being able to not only see it but to touch it as well.

Palomar · 2004-08-10 11:53:45

These are all great probes launched every two years to Mars but until we can get real funding for man to go it will only be just pictures to go ahhh, ouu and lots of other awe vocalizations.
The real pleasure is in being able to not only see it but to touch it as well.

*Hi SpaceNut:

I doubt you'll find much if any disagreement with your comments.

But currently this -is- as "good as it gets."

Whenever I see a pic of Mars, especially a close-up shot of the terrain, I imagine what the bootfalls might sound like. Usually it's a scrunching gravelly noise. :laugh:

So yeah -- there's no substitute for actually being there. This tech will hurry that process along. Hopefully no later than 2025. :-\

--Cindy

SBird · 2004-08-10 12:17:57

Oh yeah, another cool toy on MRO is an Italian ground penetrating radar that should be able to map underground ice deposits up to 1 km underground.

SpaceNut · 2004-08-10 13:44:26

Here is a great image of the tracks made by the rovers on Mars.
I do love every bid of those awsome Rovers, more...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin....pe=news

Palomar · 2004-08-13 06:52:45

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish … ?1182004]A pic of MRO

*Accompanied by article outlining the basics (posted here previously).

Nice photo. Wish it could be me working on it!

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-08-13 09:20:18

This may not be the correct post location but here is some info on drilling.

Planetary Drill Automation Field Test at Arctic Crater

For the first time, a full-scale Mars-prototype deep drill has been tested under field conditions at a high-fidelity Mars-analog site. The first Drilling Automation for Mars Exploration (DAME) field season deployed a modified Honeybee Deep Drill.

http://www.marsonearth.org/reports/07.3 … pdate.html

djellison · 2004-09-08 03:37:14

I've read some people have doubt over the calim of 30cm res - based on the limiting resolution of the optics - anyone got any ideas on that?

Doug

Palomar · 2004-10-13 05:16:34

Heres]http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/mro_tech_041013.html]Here's an update

*Launch window will run between August 10 to August 30, 2005. They're apparently really slapping this thing together quickly now, including its launcher. Says this is the first interplanetary mission to be launched from an Atlas 5 since 1973.

Six instruments listed as being on it.

--Cindy

SpaceNut · 2004-10-13 05:57:44

What is really funny though is what it is expected to achieve with this instrument set. That MRO is a crucial link to a wave of upcoming robotic landers slated to dot Mars in coming years, such as the next generation rover in 2009. Basically get a good picture of resources and chose the best sites for future missions.

Science instruments onboard MRO emphasize the spacecraft’s roster of key jobs at Mars: the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), Context Camera (CTX), Mars Color Imager (MARCI), Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), Mars Climate Sounder (MCS), and the Shallow Radar (SHARAD).

After looking at the instrument I realize that many are the same as what would be needed for the LRO to be launched some time in the fall of 2008.

NASA has established the following "priority ordered" objectives for the initial robotic elements in the Lunar Exploration Program:
Characterize the lunar radiation environment, biological impacts, and potential mitigation by determining the global radiation environment, investigating shielding capabilities, and validating other deep space radiation prototype hardware and software;
Determine a high resolution global, geodetic grid of the Moon (in 3-dimensions) that provides the topography necessary and sufficient to identify future landing sites;
Assess in detail the resources and environments of the Moon's polar cap regions;
Determine in great detail the elemental composition, mineralogy, and other regolith characteristics of the Moon's surface.
The total budget for all investigations selected with the soon-to-be-released AO is expected to be less than $120M (Real Year Dollars) including design, development, test, launch, and mission support and data analysis.

While the MRO is to be a much longer duration mission I find the cost quite different.

MRO’s primary and relay mission requirement is to operate for 5.4 years. But it has the built-in chutzpa to keep on keeping on for a decade. Cost of the spacecraft, its booster, mission operations, and performing science for 10 years is in the $700 million range.

djellison · 2004-10-13 11:10:08

this is the first interplanetary mission to be launched from an Atlas 5 since 1973.

First interplanetary on ANY Atlas since '73 - the Atlas 5 has only been flying for about 2 years.

Doug

Palomar · 2004-10-13 11:24:18

First interplanetary on ANY Atlas since '73 - the Atlas 5 has only been flying for about 2 years.
Doug

*Thanks for specifying. That's what I get for posting at frickin' 7:15 a.m. :laugh: Of course, the article itself could have been a tad more specific (like I know a lot about rockets...riiiiight).

It's been a great day.

--Cindy

Ad Astra · 2004-10-13 15:35:02

Thanks to MGS, Odyssey, and the rovers, MRO will have a lot to photograph. We are only beginning to scratch the surface on revealing the secrets of Mars, particularly in regards to water (both subsurface ice and possibly liquid on th surface) and perhaps life, based on the methane and ammonia traces that happen to occur over the underground ice deposits.

SpaceNut · 2004-10-15 10:55:55

After reading recent articles written with regards to the science that we wish to explore when it comes to Mars research. Most articles state that the first goal is to follow the water, second to photograph the surface in finer details and third I would hope would be a more indepth mineral study.

I beg to wonder how many more probes must be sent before we can answer the water question or will we ever.
Great that we will get the next two peices of research under way but will it be like we have done with the Apollo's moon data of old, in that it is just not good enough for when we finally to get to go?

Mars Reconsidered: New Data Raises Fresh Questions
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/m … 41015.html

SpaceNut · 2004-10-15 11:23:44

Well here is one problem that I see when it comes to cost:
Engineers put together the next Mars probe

Am I wrong to think we need someone with these engineering knowledge to turn a screw or to afix an item to it as it is being built.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6239184/

Ad Astra · 2004-10-15 20:28:01

I beg to wonder how many more probes must be sent before we can answer the water question or will we ever.

It is far easier to prove the existence of something than it is to prove the non-existance of something.

SpaceNut · 2004-10-20 10:43:16

It appears that lockheed has the contract to build the MRO and they are the same ones that also built a number of other failed probes including Genesis that recently crashed. Same article mention other contract that have been handed out to others not necessarily in the space business.

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,141 … 86,00.html

On Tuesday, engineers at the company's Waterton Canyon facility packed up the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a $700 million spacecraft designed to look for water on Mars and scheduled for launch next summer. The spacecraft will be moved to Lockheed's "shake and bake room" today, where temperatures will swing from broiling to freezing to test the craft's mettle.

Ad Astra · 2004-10-21 00:48:38

LockMart (as a result of purchasing Martin Marietta) has produced every American Mars orbiter and powered lander since at least Mars Observer in 1993. I'm not so sure if they were behind any of the rovers, or previous Viking and Mariner probes.

NASA goes with their known quantity, and LockMart has delivered plenty of successes recently (the great galactic ghoul notwithstanding.) They've beaten the odds on Mars mission success, and built a firm technical base for future Mars missions. Past success will secure a productive future for LockMart an Mars exploration.

MarsDog · 2004-10-22 16:15:41

I've read some people have doubt over the calim of 30cm res - based on the limiting resolution of the optics - anyone got any ideas on that?

You have the http://www.electro-optical.com/unitconv … iffraction limit, which is a function apperture and wavelenght.

You can download commercial 60 cm http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Resolv … resolution images of Earth.
Spy satellites are better, so the 20-30 cm for Mars is believable. Add image processing, combining multiple images, to squeeze out even better resolution.

http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/t- … alculation example

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The 6 megabit data link is getting close to filling up an old 10 mbs Ethernet card. That is 4 times my ADSL Internet connection speed.

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Before the first humans arrive, we might get another one, same resolution, as the best http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Reconn … ellite]spy satellites, circling Earth right now.

SpaceNut · 2004-11-01 10:05:22

In the article Spirit and Opportunity Pushing the Bounds of Exploration there are many interesting facts of the on going mars mission but also of the future missions as well and of the budget impact of thoses in the planning stages.

Spirit and Opportunity Pushing the Bounds of Exploration

Detailed examination of the shield will also provide engineering data to help build better future Martian reentry systems. The Martian landers and orbiters will keep arriving at two-year intervals through this decade, adding to the five spacecraft already there--the two rovers, the U.S. Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey orbiters, and the European Mars Express orbiter. In fact, Mars exploration has reached a stage in which, from now into the foreseeable future, dozens of U.S. and European contractors and thousands of employees will be working daily on several hundred million dollars' worth of new robotic Mars missions and Mars-related aerospace technologies to support the existing strategy--which will soon be upgraded by the new road map planning effort.
The next mission will be the $300-million-class NASA JPL/Lockheed Martin Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, set for launch in August 2005 with extremely high-resolution imaging capability (pictured above). It will be followed in 2007 by the Phoenix north polar lander and in 2009 by the Mars Telesat orbiter and $1-billion Mars Science Lander, a much more capable rover. The initial robotic sample return mission, envisioned for 2013, will also drive more than $1 billion in new research and development.
The Mars road map initiative for additional missions to at least 2025 is to get underway in December. JPL Director Elachi is selecting various road map team members to review the Mars strategy in the wake of the rovers' success.

Ad Astra · 2004-11-01 19:36:57

Good to see that MSR is back on people's radar screens again!

New Mars Forums

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