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Mission record

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Also known as MRO, MarsReconnaissanceOrbiter

National Aeronautics and Space Administration · Launched

Explore trajectory

Active · Active

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter blasted off from Cape Canaveral in 2005, on a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for long periods of time. While other Mars missions have shown that water flowed across the surface in Mars' history, it remains a mystery whether water was ever around long enough to provide a habitat for life. The cruise to Mars took seven months and included checkouts, calibrations, navigation, and five trajectory correction maneuvers; the orbiter reached Mars and went into orbit on 10 March 2006, and aerobraking was used over the next six months to lower the orbit to the 255 x 320 km science orbit. NASA's mission page lists it as an active mission with a mission duration of 2006 - ongoing.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Atlas V 401
Launch site
Cape Canaveral, United States
Countries
United States
Mission types
Orbiter

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched on an Atlas V 401

    Launch on an Atlas V-401 took place at 11:43 UT (7:43 a.m. EDT) on 12 August 2005, and the launch/orbital information page gives the same instant as 2005-08-12T11:43:00Z. The pages disagree about where and the disagreement is recorded rather than resolved: the master catalog text says from Kennedy Space Center while its own Facts in Brief and the launch/orbital information page print Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States, and NASA's mission page prints Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The committed value is the one the two NSSDCA Facts blocks share.

    Earth

  2. Orbit insertion

    Entered a 400 x 35000 km polar capture orbit

    Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars and went into orbit on 10 March 2006. The signal that the orbit insertion burn started reached Earth at 21:24 UT (4:24 p.m. EST). The first signals following its reappearance reached Earth at about 22:16 UT (5:16 EST). The 1641 second burn slowed the spacecraft by about one km/sec, leaving it in a 400 x 35000 km polar capture orbit with a 35 hour period. Aerobraking was used over the next six months to lower the orbit to the 255 x 320 km science orbit. NASA's mission page prints the same date as March 10, 2006.

    Mars

  3. Milestone

    Science operations began after solar conjunction

    Science operations began at the end of solar conjunction in November 2006, and, with multiple extensions to the mission, continue to the present (as of September, 2015). NASA's own mission page, fetched on 2026-09-02, lists the spacecraft under Active Mission and gives Mission Duration 2006 - ongoing, which is why this record's status is active rather than following the older page's date.

    Mars

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter · Orbiter

    Destinations: Mars

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 2, 2026