SPYING ON MARS

First results from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide provocative new evidence that there were diverse watery habitats capable of supporting life on Mars eons ago. MRO is also finding evidence of recent Martian climate changes only hundreds of years apart that could influence Earth climate studies.

MRO is being operated at the red planet, about 240 million mi. away, much like U.S. National Reconnaissance Office imaging satellites are operated over Earth to look at military intelligence targets. Lockheed Martin, which is commanding the spacecraft, is using the experience and software heritage it gained during decades of secret U.S. national security space operations, as well as other Mars missions, for effective MRO commanding with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The initial findings result from the first few dozen images acquired by the $720 million mission during a week of intensive instrument checkout this month in the new 186-mi. science orbit reached after five months of complex aerobraking.

In addition to new data on potential watery habitats for ancient life, the early information is also likely to become a factor in climate assessments about Earth as well as Mars. MRO has already found unexpectedly narrow banding in the north Martian polar cap, providing a window into periods of rapid and somewhat recent climate change on Mars (see top photo). The data should help researchers address issues such as global warming on Earth, where there's debate about whether rapid climate changes are affected by human activity--no factor on Mars.

The planet, with MRO in tow, is moving behind the Sun relative to Earth, temporarily blocking radio communications--although the spacecraft is using its sensors this week to record the effects of water vapor plumes emerging off the Martian north pole, says Rich Zurek, MRO project scientist at JPL.

On Nov. 1, however, Mars will reemerge from behind the Sun, allowing MRO to reinitiate sustained science operations with the most powerful set of cameras and compositional sensors ever launched on a planetary mission (AW&ST Jan. 31, 2005, p. 48).

On Nov. 6 MRO is to test its Electra radio relay system with the rover Spirit to validate performance of the system planned for use to communicate with the Phoenix lander, set for launch next year, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover, planned for launch in 2009. Spirit and Opportunity currently use the JPL Odyssey Mars orbiter spacecraft for relay, and MRO will provide a backup to that arrangement as well.

MRO is to be fully engaged in complementary instrument operations by Nov. 6-9 to kick off what's now expected to be 12 years of the most intensive dissection of Mars to be undertaken in the first half of the 21st century. During its service life, MRO also could support as many as six surface landers.

The spacecraft's high-resolution cameras are starting to be focused on several thousand preplanned Martian targets to answer specific questions, in addition to seeking new targets. To do that, MRO is using targeting algorithms not unlike those used by NRO recon spacecraft. And just like Earth-based recons doing off-track imaging, the entire 2.5-ton MRO spacecraft or its instruments are being slewed to avoid image smearing caused by the vehicle's ground speed.