NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's 1000+ Images Instrumental In Future Mars Missions?

First Posted: Aug 11, 2016 06:55 AM EDT
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NASA published more than 1,000 Mars images captured by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter since 2006. Featured in the largest dump of images were Mars planet's surface, ice caps, mountains, craters, and dunes.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made use of an on-board camera referred to as the HiRise or High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment. According to the space agency, the main secret to capturing these stunning photos was perfect lighting brought about by the red planet's equinox period. During this time, the sun's rays directly hit the equator, lighting up the planet's poles, Engadget reported.

Just like NASA's other satellite and cameras, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured more than a thousand Mars images mainly for scientific purposes. The captured images were sent back immediately back to Earth, allowing scientists to view still images of many parts of the planet for the first time.  

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured images are also informing scientists about the other best possible landing sites for future Mars landers like Insight, ExoMars, and some other future Mars rovers. The facility is also monitoring the active processes that the planet's surface are hosting like slope flows, incoming impact events, and sand dunes, Popular Science reported.

Meanwhile, NASA's Insight is set to be launched from California's Vanderberg Air Force Base. It is expected to land on the Martian surface after six months of travel. Insight Mars lander is just as big as a car. It has been created to study and monitor the planet's deep interiors. During its stay in space, it is expected to provide information about the planet's rocky terrains and reveal the core's inner compositions.

When Mars Insight lander is able to provide NASA with the set of information it is expected to transmit, it will reportedly be considered a solid backbone for the future Mars journey initially scheduled to happen in 2030. The lander is also expected to gather knowledge and technical capabilities just about anything vital in terms of Mars' surface composition.

See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone

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