[meteorite-list] Spacecraft Set To Reach Milestone, Reports Technical Glitches (MRO)

[Ron Baalke]

Feb. 7, 2007

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1726

Guy Webster 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278 

RELEASE: 07-24

SPACECRAFT SET TO REACH MILESTONE, REPORTS TECHNICAL GLITCHES

WASHINGTON - NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft this month 
is set to surpass the record for the most science data returned by 
any Mars spacecraft. While continuing to produce data at record 
levels, engineers are examining why two instruments are 
intermittently not performing entirely as planned. All other 
spacecraft instruments are operating well and continue to return 
science data.

Since beginning its primary science phase in November 2006, the 
orbiter has returned enough data to fill nearly 1,000 CD-ROMs. This 
ties the record for Mars data sent back between 1997 and 2006 by 
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission.

In late November 2006 the spacecraft team operating the High 
Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Mars Reconnaissance 
Orbiter noticed a significant increase in noise, such as bad pixels, 
in one of its 14 camera detector pairs. Another detector, that 
developed the same problem soon after launch, has worsened. Images 
from the spacecraft camera last month revealed the first signs of 
this problem in five other detectors.

While the current impact on image quality is small, there is concern 
as to whether the problem will continue to worsen.

In-flight data show that more warming of the camera's electronics 
before taking an image reduces or eliminates the problem. The imaging 
team aims to understand the root cause of the worsening over time and 
to determine the best operational procedures to maximize the 
long-term science benefits. The camera continues to make observations 
and is returning excellent images of the Martian surface. 

The second instrument concern aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 
is related to an instrument designed to routinely scan from the 
surface across the atmosphere above Mars' horizon. The Mars Climate 
Sounder maps the temperature, ice clouds and dust distributions in 
the atmosphere on each of nearly 13 orbits every day. In late 
December, the sounder appeared to skip steps occasionally, so that 
its field of view was slightly out of position. Following uplink of 
new scan tables to the instrument, the position errors stopped and 
the instrument operated nominally. 

In mid-January, the position errors reappeared. Although still 
intermittent, the errors became more frequent, so the instrument has 
been temporarily stowed while the science team investigates the 
problem. 

The rate of data return is expected to increase over the coming months 
as the relative motions of Earth and Mars in their orbits around the 
sun shrink the distance between the planets. By the conclusion of its 
first science phase in 2008, the mission is expected to have returned 
more than 30 terabits of science data, enough to fill more than 5,000 
CD-ROMs. Observations will be used to evaluate potential landing 
sites for future missions and to increase our understanding of Mars 
and how planets change over time.

The mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 
Calif., for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed 
Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor and 
built the spacecraft.

Additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is 
available on the Web at: 

http://www.nasa.gov/mro

-end-