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The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Launch Logistics
- October 12, 2005
The logistical challenge of getting a mission sent to Mars begins years before liftoff and culminates in the stressful days just prior to launch. This video highlights teams at JPL, Kennedy Space Center and Lockheed Martin working together to prepare for a complex launch amid the ever-changing weather of August in Florida.
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Mars Global Surveyor Helps Track Changes On Mars
- September 21, 2005
Recent Changes on Mars Seen by Mars Global Surveyor.
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Liftoff is Extraordinary!
- August 12, 2005
The Atlas V launch vehicle lit the morning sky as it rocketed the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on its journey to Mars.
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Launch Coverage Introduction
- August 12, 2005
NASA commentator, George Diller, opens the MRO launch coverage program.
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Animation
- August 05, 2005
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The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Getting to the Launch Pad
- August 5, 2005
From one side of the country to the other, through a snowstorm and other delays, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made its way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final processing and rehearsals before launch. Hitch a ride on the C-17 cargo plane that carried the next generation of Mars explorers to its final Earth-bound destination.
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Mars Time: The Year that Was and the Decade to Come
- July 20, 2005
This video chronicles one of the most tense, exhilarating and rewarding years in the history of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, while looking forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead.
Relive the nail-biting wait for Spirit and Opportunity to send word that they were safe on Mars, the excruciating anomaly that temporarily put Spirit out of commission and the exciting news that the rovers' discoveries have profoundly affected our scientific knowledge of the red planet.
Learn more about the decade to come when NASA will visit our neighboring planet every 26 months with innovative, cutting-edge missions primed to further reveal the mysteries of Mars.
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Mars on Earth III
- July 13, 2005
Join NASA's lead scientist for Mars and Lunar Explorations, Dr. Jim Garvin, on a visit to the Sedan Crater in Nevada. Dr. Garvin uses hands-on examples and demonstrations to explain how studying craters can help us unravel the mysteries of Earth and Mars.
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Deployment of Mars Express Radar Antenna Sections
- June 29, 2005
This animation portrays the unfolding of all three booms making up the
antenna for the radar instrument on the European Space Agency's Mars
Express orbiter. The first boom was deployed in May 2005. The other two
were deployed in June 2005. The animation is based on calculated
simulations of how each boom could have extended itself from the folded
position in which it had been stored. Now the instrument is ready to begin
its work of looking below Mars's surface for buried features, possibly
including water-bearing layers, and examining the ionized layer at the top
of Mars' atmosphere. The instrument, Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface
and Ionosphere Sounding, was jointly funded by NASA and the Italian Space
Agency. It was developed by the University of Rome, Italy, in partnership
with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The University of
Iowa, Iowa City, built the transmitter for the instrument, JPL built the
receiver, and Astro Aerospace, Carpinteria, Calif., built the antenna.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ESA
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Opportunity Leaving Martian Sand Trap
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June 07, 2005
This video shows the Mars rover Opportunity maneuvering out of
a martian sand dune between May 11 and June 3. Engineers at NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory worked for nearly five weeks to get Opportunity free.
The long-distance roadside assistance was a painstaking operation to free
the six wheels of the rover which were stuck up to their rims in the soft
sand of the small sand dune. The rover exited the sand dune in the same
direction it drove into it on April 26th.
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Aerial View of Spirit's Journey
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June 03, 2005
This video clip shows a simulated aerial view of Spirit's journey through the "Columbia Hills" on Mars. The U.S. Geological Survey created the three-dimensional digital terrain model using images from the Mars Orbital Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor satellite. Released June 3, 2005, the route shows the rover's progress from martian day, or sol, 149 (June 3, 2004) through sol 502 (May 31, 2005), at which time the rover had traveled 3.9 kilometers (2.4 miles) since landing on Mars in January, 2004. The video was processed using a method called Incremental Bundle Adjustment developed at Ohio State University, which corrects traverse errors for improved rover positions.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/OSU/MSSS/USGS
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The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Heavy Lifting
- April 18, 2005
Getting a spacecraft to Mars is no walk in the park - as launch engineers are well aware. But when the spacecraft in question is among the largest ever sent to the red planet, there are specific challenges that must be overcome. Hear from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter team just what it will take to get the mission on its way.
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An Odyssey of Exploration
- March 08, 2005
In this 11-minute movie, the Odyssey orbiter team shares their discoveries and long-term plans to unravel the mysteries of Mars. During Odyssey's successful primary mission, the team found a "buried treasure" of water ice. On Earth, water is a key ingredient for life, and finding the new abundance of ice increases the chances that Mars was once a habitat for life and could support human astronauts in the future. Odyssey continues to create the highest resolution global image maps ever acquired at Mars, as well as maps of what chemical elements are present on the surface of the red planet. Odyssey also analyzes health risks for future human explorers, enables students to take their own pictures of Mars, and relays over 95% of the data from the Mars rovers.
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Spirit on Mars
- February 18, 2005
Look through Spirit's "eyes" during its first 343 sols (days) on Mars. This video highlights images from Spirit's front hazard-avoidance camera during nearly a year's worth of red planet roving.
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Opportunity on Mars - February 18, 2005
Look through Opportunity's "eyes" during its first 323 sols (days) on Mars. This video highlights images from Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera during nearly a year's worth of red planet roving.
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Spirit and Opportunity: One Year on Mars
- January 03, 2005
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