News Archive / Tagged: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

• NASA decommissions Mars orbiter mineral-mapping instrument

  Derek RichardsonMay 8th, 2023

  After more than 15 years of operation, NASA has turned off one of six science instruments aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

• MRO captures photo of Curiosity rover from Martian orbit

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 13th, 2019

  NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured an image of the Curiosity rover in a photo of Mount Sharp's Woodland Bay region taken from orbit on May 31, 2019.

• Martian storm chasers: Spacecraft observe dust storm

  Paul KnightlyJuly 30th, 2018

  A fleet of spacecraft are diligently studying the global dust storm currently encircling Mars. Much as storm chasers would do on Earth, they are collecting valuable data so that scientists can better understand how these storms form and evolve.

• Strained Mars data relay capabilities possible in 2020s

  Paul KnightlyMay 7th, 2018

  As its current fleet of Mars-orbiting spacecraft age with no new NASA orbiter under development, SpaceFlight Insider investigated the options available to maintain data relay capabilities with spacecraft on the surface into the 2020s.

• NASA prepares Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to support future missions

  Jim SharkeyFebruary 11th, 2018

  Since arriving in orbit above the Red Planet in 2006, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has observed Mars with it scientific instruments and provided a vital communications link for mission on the Martian surface. The spacecraft has already operated for more than twice its planned mission lifetime. NASA is planning to keep using it well into the 2020's to support upcoming missions. The space agency is currently taking steps to increase the orbiter's longevity. 

• Dust storms linked to gas escaping Martian atmosphere

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 26th, 2018

  A new study using data gathered by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) during the Red Planet's most recent global dust storm in 2007, suggests that such storms play a role in the escaping of gases from the planet's atmosphere. That process transformed the warmer, wetter climate of ancient Mars into the arid, frozen conditions found on the surface of the Red Planet today.

• Steep Martian slopes reveal structure of underground ice sheets

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 15th, 2018

  Scientists using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have located eight sites where thick deposits of ice beneath the Martian surface are exposed in the faces of steep eroding slopes known as scarps. The eight scarps, have slopes as steep as 55 degrees, provide researchers with new information about the internal structure of previously-discovered layered subsurface ice sheets in Mars's middle latitudes.

• Research suggests limited role for water in Mars recurring slope lineae

  Paul KnightlyNovember 25th, 2017

  Water may play a less significant role than previously thought in recurring slope lineae on Mars according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience on Nov. 20. Recurring slope lineae, or RSL, are dark seasonal slope streaks that occur on slope faces in some regions of Mars.

• MRO data utilized for Mars 2020 landing-site selection

  Paul KnightlyFebruary 11th, 2017

  NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is providing the basis for evaluating eight prospective landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover mission.

• Ridges on Mars have variety of origins

  Laurel KornfeldJanuary 27th, 2017

  Ridges of various sizes have been located in many regions of the Martian surface, and scientists surmise that they originated in a variety of processes and events.

• Martian polar ice caps revealed in 3-D

  Paul KnightlyJanuary 10th, 2017

  Three-dimensional subsurface images are revealing unprecedented new insights into the structure of the Martian polar ice caps. The 3-D images were produced by data from the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) on board NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) over the course of more than 2,000 orbital passes over each Martian pole.

• Martian ice deposit contains as much water as Lake Superior

  Jim SharkeyNovember 25th, 2016

  Scientists using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have discovered a layer of water ice beneath a region of cracked and pitted plains on Mars that holds about as much water as what is in Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes.

• New analysis yields clues to fate of Beagle 2

  Jim SharkeyNovember 18th, 2016

  Scientists have discovered new clues about the fate of the British-made Beagle 2 Mars lander, thanks to a new research technique. The probe was discovered on the surface of Mars in November 2014 using images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), but questions remained about what had caused its failure to contact Earth.

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spies Schiaparelli crash site

  Bart LeahyOctober 30th, 2016

  NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has spotted the crash site of Schiaparelli, the lander portion of the European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars 2016 mission. Images taken by MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on October 25 show three impact locations within about 0.9 miles (1.5 kilometers) of each other.

• NASA spacecraft eyes remains of ESA’s Schiaparelli lander

  Eric ShearOctober 22nd, 2016

  NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) confirmed the ExoMars team's worst fears by photographing recently added features on the surface of Mars at Meridiani Planum believed to have been created by a crash landing of Europe's Schiaparelli test lander. The demonstrator entered Mars' atmosphere at Mars Oct. 19. All seemed to be going well until the signal cut off about 50 seconds before its planned touchdown.