Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission has the primary objective of placing a science orbiter into a low and near‐circular Sun‐synchronous Mars orbit to perform remote sensing investigations to characterize the surface, subsurface, and atmosphere of the planet and to identify potential landing sites for future missions. This chapter describes the specific telecom calibrations and activities. Aerobraking ended with MRO in a slightly elliptical low‐altitude Sun‐synchronous orbit, called the science orbit. The antenna placement on an arriving/descending vehicle and that vehicle's attitudes relative to the orbiter are critical to maintain communication during EDL. The high‐gain antenna (HGA) consists of three main components: the feed, an ellipsoidal subreflector, and a 3‐m offset parabolic main reflector. The Ka‐band demonstration includes an assessment of the DSN's readiness to track Ka‐band signals from deep‐space missions. The MRO test was planned in the form of a telecommunications technology demonstration.