Mars Spacecraft Settles Into Orbit

(AP)  The most powerful spacecraft ever sent to Mars has settled into a nearly circular orbit, a move that allows scientists to begin studying the planet in unprecedented detail, NASA said.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its thrusters for 12 minutes Monday to adjust to its final position six months after it arrived at the planet. Its altitude ranges between 155 to 196 miles above the surface, the agency said Tuesday.

"Getting to this point is a great achievement," said Dan Johnston, deputy mission manager at the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $720 million mission.

Over the next several months, the orbiter will deploy its 33-foot antenna and remove a lens cap from one of its instruments. It will begin collecting data in November, and scientists expect the resolution of those images to be nine times higher.

The unmanned orbiter safely slipped into orbit around Mars in March after a seven-month, 310 million-mile journey. It joined three other spacecraft currently flying around the planet and two rovers rolling across the surface.

Several weeks after entering orbit, a high-resolution camera aboard the spacecraft beamed back a test image showing the planet's southern highlands and cratered surface.

The orbiter spent the last half year repeatedly dipping in to the upper atmosphere to shrink its orbit in a tricky process known as aerobraking.

[edwarddelong]

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NASA funding is just another money available, example that supports; "A ONE MILLION DOLLAR CREDIT TO EACH SOCIAL SECURITY CARD," deployed as a President George W. Bush, signed ACT.%u201D This %u201CONE MILLION DOLLAR CREDIT TO EACH SOCIAL SECURTIY CARD,%u201D which should have been signed by "U.S.A's President Lincoln's" as part of the %u201CPresident%u2019s, signed HOME STEAD ACT." These signatory acts, provide "Home Land Stability, and Financial Security," managed by each "House Holder." These %u201CPresidential signed ACT%u201D moneys%u2019 will come from wasted money funding "Wall Street Brokerage Pyramid Scheming Mortgagor Extortionists."
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House Holder, financial stability of each Social Security Card, provides Tax Revenue for Public Services, as well as paying Medicare, Medicaid, and Un-Employment funding, also providing a larger volume of Funds available supporting NASA, and similar programs.
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Thank You.
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Posted by: TMOYCM TMCIA, 9.13.06 15:07:15 HOURS.
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[saturnone]

Both ndg and biermang have their hearts in the right place. However, they just might want to extract their heads and see the sunshine for a while. The "money" NASA uses does go to employees....and contractors, and sub-contractors and other people. They in turn feed their families and provide employment to even mor people who in turn feed their children. It goes on... and is called the "Economy". Government program spending feeds, clothes, and pays for housing for as many people as government subsidies and charities. Plus we (the people) get the benefits of the discoveries, innovations, engineering, and technologies that are developed for these programs as well as the direct output of the programs themselves. Space exploration is only one program, and the whole NASA budget is far less than many other spending or building programs. But they all work together to bolster the economy and provide jobs at every level of our society. The money comes from the taxes we pay. That is the same money the bad old government used to buy grain and other foods as well as building materials and even water that I used to help deliver to Somalia and Ethiopia in 1972 thru 1974. To be sure a lot of money in government programs is wasted, and a lot of our aid to others is also diverted from those it was intended for; but where would everybody be without those programs. I'd rather have people working than expand the welfare state.

[calmly-2009]

It would seem that the money is buying meals for Americans, if it is being spend in the US. The government is re-distributing money; we may disagree with the amount and use, but spending is one of the things that it does. The equipment in space may be useless, but the project got money moving in the US economy. That may be more important than the science to us culturally.

The money was not spent buying things for the disadvantaged, which would have made the expence twice as valuable, but thats a discussion for a capitalism/socialism forum.

[biermang]

I agree with ndg! Of course what is hunger to a nasa employee? They have a job and food.
My question is, who votes to let nasa have these millions of dollars? Oh yes, our government! But we must go forward at any cost to see if life exists on mars,perhaps we can feed them instead!
biermang,usa

[ndg1979]

I congratulate NASA on getting another spacecraft millions of miles away from Earth, but ask yourself folks - is this worth over $700 million dollars? That is over $2 for every man, woman and child in this country just floating in space over a planet that none of us will ever walk on in our lifetime.

Realize the important lesson here - you could feed one meal to every man, woman and child in this country for the same $700+ million we just allowed our government and NASA to throw away in to space. I sure hope that NASA gets $700 millions dollars worth of information out of this while that little child in Anytown, USA goes another day with nothing to eat.