Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter Ready for Launch |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Monday, 08 August 2005 20:00 |
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The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is scheduled to blast off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on August 10, 2005. This will be NASAs first Mars mission since the twin rovers landed on Mars in January 2004.
The 2180-kilogram MRO will be the largest spacecraft that NASA has sent to Mars. It will begin observing Mars in November 2006, orbiting at an average altitude of about 300 kilometers, 25 percent closer to the surface than the two NASA spacecraft that are now circling Mars. It will take high-resolution images over an area ten times larger than previous surveys and beam back more data than all previous Mars missions combined.
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