Mars orbiter begins aerobraking campaign

Published: Apr 04, 2006
Source: www.cnn.com



PASADENA, California (AP) -- The most advanced spacecraft to reach Mars has begun adjusting its orbit so that it can study the planet in detail this fall, scientists said.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its thrusters for nearly a minute Thursday to lower its obit, a step toward the tricky aerobraking process during which the spacecraft will repeatedly dip into the upper atmosphere starting next week.

"We have to be sure we don't dive too deep because that could overheat parts of the orbiter," Daniel Kubitschek of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said Friday.

JPL is in charge of the $720 million mission.continue..