Mars Orbiting Cameras Debut As NASA Craft Adjusts Orbit

Mars Orbiting Cameras Debut As NASA Craft Adjusts Orbit

Researchers today released the first Mars images from two of the three science cameras on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Images taken by the orbiter’s Context Camera and Mars Color Imager during the first tests of those instruments at Mars confirm the performance capability of the cameras even though the test images were taken from nearly 10 times as far from the planet as the spacecraft will be once it finishes reshaping its orbit. Test images from the third camera of the science payload were released previously.

“The test images show that both cameras will meet or exceed their performance requirements once they’re in the low-altitude science orbit. We’re looking forward to that time with great anticipation,” said Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. Malin is team leader for the Context Camera and principal investigator for the Mars Color Imager.

The cameras took the test images two weeks after the orbiter’s March 10 arrival at Mars and before the start of “aerobraking,” a process of reshaping the orbit by using controlled contact with Mars’ atmosphere. This week, the spacecraft is dipping into Mars’ upper atmosphere as it approaches the altitude range that it will use for shrinking its orbit gradually over the next six months. The orbiter is currently flying in very elongated loops around Mars. Each circuit lasts about 35 hours and takes the spacecraft about 27,000 miles (43,000 kilometers) away from the planet before swinging back in close.

Read the complete Press Release