The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was inserted into orbit around Mars on March 10, 2005. After a brief delay, it began the process of aerobraking - using the atmospheric drag on the vehicle to reduce orbital period. The aerobraking phase lasted approximately 5 months (April 4 to August 30, 2006), during which teams from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Corporation, and NASA Langley Research Center worked together to monitor and maneuver the spacecraft such that thermal margin on the solar arrays was maintained while schedule margin was upheld to provide a final local mean solar time (LMST) at ascending node of 3:00pm on the final aerobraking orbit. This paper will focus on the contribution of the flight mechanics team at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) during the aerobraking phase of the MRO mission.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Operational Aerobraking Phase Assessment
17th AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting ; 2007 ; Sedona, AZ, United States
2007-01-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Operational Aerobraking Phase Assessment (AAS 07-244)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007
|Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Operational Aerobraking Phase Assessment (AAS 07-244)
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2007
|