The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is testing a collection of enormous spacecraft rolls that may assist it hunt for water.
After practically 20 years of operations, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is on a roll, performing a brand new maneuver to squeeze much more science out of the busy spacecraft because it circles the Pink Planet. Engineers have primarily taught the probe to roll over in order that it’s practically the wrong way up. Doing so permits MRO to look deeper underground because it searches for liquid and frozen water, amongst different issues.
The brand new functionality is detailed in a paper lately printed within the Planetary Science Journal documenting three “very massive rolls,” because the mission calls them, that had been carried out between 2023 and 2024.
“Not solely are you able to train an outdated spacecraft new tips, you’ll be able to open up solely new areas of the subsurface to discover by doing so,” stated one of many paper’s authors, Gareth Morgan of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona.
The orbiter was initially designed to roll as much as 30 levels in any path in order that it might level its devices at floor targets, together with potential landing sites, impact craters, and extra.
“We’re distinctive in that all the spacecraft and its software program are designed to allow us to roll on a regular basis,” stated Reid Thomas, MRO’s mission supervisor at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The method for rolling isn’t easy. The spacecraft carries five operating science instruments which have totally different pointing necessities. To focus on a exact spot on the floor with one instrument, the orbiter has to roll a selected approach, which implies the opposite devices might have a less-favorable view of Mars through the maneuver.
That’s why every common roll is deliberate weeks upfront, with instrument groups negotiating who conducts science and when. Then, an algorithm checks MRO’s place above Mars and mechanically instructions the orbiter to roll so the suitable instrument factors on the appropriate spot on the floor. On the identical time, the algorithm instructions the spacecraft’s photo voltaic arrays to rotate and observe the Solar and its high-gain antenna to trace Earth to keep up energy and communications.
Very massive rolls, that are 120 levels, require much more planning to keep up the security of the spacecraft. The payoff is that the brand new maneuver permits one specific instrument, known as the Shallow Radar (SHARAD), to have a deeper view of Mars than ever earlier than.
Designed to look from about half a mile to a little bit over a mile (1 to 2 kilometers) belowground, SHARAD permits scientists to differentiate between supplies like rock, sand, and ice. The radar was particularly helpful in figuring out the place ice might be discovered shut sufficient to the floor that future astronauts would possibly in the future have the ability to entry it. Ice might be key for producing rocket propellant for the journey residence and is vital for studying extra in regards to the local weather, geology, and potential for all times at Mars.
However as nice as SHARAD is, the staff knew it might be even higher.
To provide cameras just like the Excessive-Decision Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) prime viewing on the entrance of MRO, SHARAD’s two antenna segments had been mounted in the back of the orbiter. Whereas this setup helps the cameras, it additionally implies that radio indicators SHARAD pings onto the floor beneath encounter elements of the spacecraft, interfering with the indicators and leading to pictures which might be much less clear.
“The SHARAD instrument was designed for the near-subsurface, and there are choose areas of Mars which might be simply out of attain for us,” stated Morgan, a co-investigator on the SHARAD staff. “There’s a lot to be gained by taking a better have a look at these areas.”
In 2023, the staff determined to attempt growing 120-degree very massive rolls to supply the radio waves an unobstructed path to the floor. What they discovered is that the maneuver can strengthen the radar sign by 10 occasions or extra, providing a a lot clearer image of the Martian underground.
However the roll is so massive that the spacecraft’s communications antenna shouldn’t be pointed at Earth, and its photo voltaic arrays aren’t capable of observe the Solar.
“The very massive rolls require a particular evaluation to verify we’ll have sufficient energy in our batteries to soundly do the roll,” Thomas stated.
Given the time concerned, the mission limits itself to 1 or two very massive rolls a 12 months. However engineers hope to make use of them extra typically by streamlining the method.
Whereas SHARAD scientists are benefiting from these new strikes, the staff working with one other MRO instrument, the Mars Climate Sounder, is taking advantage of MRO’s normal roll functionality.
The JPL-built instrument is a radiometer that serves as one of the crucial detailed sources obtainable of data on Mars’ ambiance. Measuring delicate adjustments in temperature over the course of many seasons, Mars Local weather Sounder reveals the inside workings of mud storms and cloud formation. Mud and wind are vital to know: They’re consistently reshaping the Martian floor, with wind-borne mud blanketing solar panels and posing a health risk for future astronauts.
Mars Local weather Sounder was designed to pivot on a gimbal in order that it might get views of the Martian horizon and floor. It additionally gives views of area, which scientists use to calibrate the instrument. However in 2024, the growing older gimbal grew to become unreliable. Now Mars Local weather Sounder depends on MRO’s normal rolls.
“Rolling used to limit our science,” stated Mars Local weather Sounder’s interim principal investigator, Armin Kleinboehl of JPL, “however we’ve integrated it into our routine planning, each for floor views and calibration.”
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages MRO for the company’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington as a part of its Mars Exploration Program portfolio. The SHARAD instrument was offered by the Italian House Company. Its operations are led by Sapienza College of Rome, and its information is analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science staff. The Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, leads U.S. involvement in SHARAD. Lockheed Martin House in Denver constructed MRO and helps its operations.
For extra info, go to:
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2025-084