Pawan from Sharjah asked us, what type of orbit will MRO be sent into once it reaches the Red Planet?
Also, will it be used as a link by the MER-A and MER-B for sending data?
Most spacecraft that have been in orbit around Mars to date, they have moved above the surface at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.
Our orbit is going to be about two-thirds of the height of that, of the previous spacecraft.
So our orbit is going to be at about 350 to, sorry, 255 to 320 kilometers above the surface.
So, being that much closer to the surface, we actually are able see the surface at higher resolution, along with having higher
resolution instruments. So it really helps us a great deal and I, please remind me of the second part.
Sure. MER-A.
Oh, MER-A, yes and MER-B. We can communicate with those rovers, but it's not the plan for us to. They have always been supported by the
Mars Odyssey mission, and so we essentially are a backup. If something happens to Mars Odyssey, then we could communicate with the rovers,
but we're not scheduled to currently.