NASA's New Mars Orbiter Bears Down on Red Planet

Published: Mar 08, 2006
Source: www.voanews.com



The newest American mission to Mars is hurtling toward the red planet, due Friday to examine it in the sharpest detail yet. It will be the largest spacecraft to circle the planet, with big capabilities to match.

Since 1997, the U.S. space agency NASA has been dispatching orbiters and companion landers to Mars about every two years to get a better geological understanding of Earth's nearest planetary neighbor. It especially wants to learn if conditions ever existed that could have supported life. The latest in the series is the huge Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, two stories tall and nearly 15 meters wide. It is closing in on the red planet after a seven month voyage from Earth.

The head of NASA's Mars exploration program, Douglas McCuistion says the effort now moves into a more intensive phase of investigation.

"So this is a big mission for us," he said. "It's big in the strategic role in the Mars exploration program, it's the biggest orbiter sent to Mars in the past 30 years, carrying the most powerful suite of remote sensing instruments ever deployed to another planet."continue..