Operations and reconfiguration of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) for comet observations

On October 19, 2014, a comet passed so close to Mars that its debris cloud enveloped the planet. This Mars comet flyby provided the unique opportunity to temporarily turn Mars missions into comet missions, and obtain data that would advance the scientific knowledge of comets. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) team implemented new operations and reconfigured the spacecraft to observe Comet Siding Spring. The flexibility in the operations approach enabled the spacecraft to successfully acquire more than 50 observations of the comet, including the highest resolution images of any other spacecraft or telescope in the solar system.