The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission: Continuing a Record of Exploration from Mars Orbit

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been on station in its low altitude, sun-synchronous, primary science
orbit since September 2006 performing both scientific and Mars programmatic support functions. The spacecraft is a
very capable remote sensing science platform carrying six science payloads supporting seven investigations and a UHF
telecommunications radio (Electra) for surface relay. Developed to support a mix of nadir mapping and targeted, highresolution
surface observations, the spacecraft’s powerful telecommunications and command & data handling (C&DH)
subsystems communicate an average of 16 hours a day with the Deep Space Network (DSN). To date, more than 300
TB of scientific data has been returned to Earth. All of the original science payloads are active with standard and new
observing modes contributing to the advancement of Mars science through peer-reviewed paper publications and the
timely dissemination of their data to the science community as a whole. Results from the science teams have revealed
an amazing diversity of ancient aqueous environments and ongoing surface change is evident through gully formation,
avalanches, and cratering. Extending the MRO-MGS climate record to a decade of Mars years is contributing to a
better understanding of current atmospheric and polar processes. In addition to its fundamental scientific objectives,
MRO is a critical element of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (MEP) providing needed infrastructure support for
landed and future missions. Using its Electra telecommunications payload, MRO provides landers and rovers critical
event coverage during their entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phases and UHF relay support once they are on the
Martian surface. MRO’s high-resolution imagers are used to scout potential landing sites and certify safe zones for
landing. As MRO begins its Fourth Extended Mission, the spacecraft remains fully capable of carrying out an
ambitious science observing plan and the programmatic tasks assigned to it. In addition to highlighting recent
discoveries of the mission, this paper describes recent challenges the spacecraft engineers have faced in flight and the
plans for extending spacecraft life well into the 2020’s.