Artist’s concept of MRO during Mars Orbital Insertion
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is now officially in the approach phase of its journey to the red planet.

NASA’s next martian orbiter has gotten one step closer to the red planet with the transition from cruise phase to approach phase!

“Cruise is a deceptive term - we certainly weren’t playing shuffleboard,” joked project manager Jim Graf. “It was a very busy time for the team. Many tests were conducted to ensure that the instruments onboard were functioning properly and our navigators performed trajectory correction maneuvers to keep us on a very precise path to Mars.”

Speaking of that precision, the third of four possible course corrections was deemed unnecessary this week.

“The navigation solutions have shown a great consistency since the second trajectory correction maneuver was executed on November 18,” said Han You, navigation team chief. “More importantly, the current data indicate that the spacecraft aim for insertion into Mars’ orbit is well within the projected target. If the current trend continues, the spacecraft will require only a very small nudge to fine tune the final aim.”

The next trajectory correction maneuver opportunity is scheduled for February 28, 2006. The orbiter will arrive at the planet on March 10, 2006.

Time flies — I remember watching the launch in August of last year. I’m so looking forward to the imagery and other goodies that will be returned by this mission. MRO’s science payload looks most impressive, particularly HiRISE:

The HiRISE camera will provide the highest-resolution images yet from martian orbit. These high resolution images will enable scientists to resolve 1-meter (about 3-foot) sized objects on Mars and to study the morphology (surface structure) in a much more comprehensive manner than ever before.

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment’s camera is capable of delivering resolutions five times greater than the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard Mars Global Surveyor, which has been returning gorgeous imagery of the Martian surface since 1997.

I took great pleasure in seeing this image released last October, giving us a delightful taste of what’s to come:

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

At first glance, you might find the shot of our Moon returned by MRO unimpressive. Au contraire!

On Sept. 8, 2005, the Moon - half bathed in the sun’s glow and half draped in darkness - showed off all of its pocks and dimples for the powerful HiRISE camera. The successful calibration bodes well for the capture of stunning and enlightening images at the red planet.

The camera took the shot while at a distance of about 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) from the Moon. The dark feature on the right is Mare Crisium. From that distance, the Moon would appear as a star-like point of light to the unaided eye.

From that distance… wow. Imagine the caliber of imagery we’ll be seeing from HiRISE when MRO’s reached its operational orbit of 200-400 kilometers (about 125 to 250 miles) above Mars’ surface. The spacecraft is currently slated to begin its science operations this November.