WEBVTT

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Pawan from Sharjah asked us, what type of orbit will MRO be sent into once it reaches the Red Planet?

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Also, will it be used as a link by the MER-A and MER-B for sending data?

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Most spacecraft that have been in orbit around Mars to date, they have moved above the surface at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.

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Our orbit is going to be about two-thirds of the height of that, of the previous spacecraft.

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So our orbit is going to be at about 350 to, sorry, 255 to 320 kilometers above the surface.

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So, being that much closer to the surface, we actually are able see the surface at higher resolution, along with having higher

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resolution instruments. So it really helps us a great deal and I, please remind me of the second part.

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Sure. MER-A.

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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

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Mars Odyssey mission, and so we essentially are a backup. If something happens to Mars Odyssey, then we could communicate with the rovers,

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but we're not scheduled to currently.

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