Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over Nilosyrtis
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes above a portion of the planet called Nilosyrtis Mensae in this artist's concept illustration.
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The Serpent Dust Devil of Mars
A towering dust devil casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The scene is a late-spring afternoon in the Amazonis Planitia region of northern Mars.
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Opportunity's First Neighborhood on Rim of Endeavour
This image taken from orbit shows the path driven by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in the weeks around the rover's arrival at the rim of Endeavour crater.
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Radial Channels Carved by Dry Ice
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of spider-shaped features on Mars, carved by vaporizing dry ice.
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Oblique View of Victoria Crater
This image of Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at more of a sideways angle than earlier orbital images of this crater.
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Elysium Planitia, Mars—Fractured Mounds in Stereo
This stereo view shows fractured mounds on the southern edge of Elysium Planitia on Mars. It combines two images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
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Phobos from 6,800 Kilometers (Color)
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took two images of the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, within 10 minutes of each other on March 23, 2008. This is the first.
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Anaglyph of the Basal Scarp of Olympus Mons Volcano
This anaglyph from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, shows Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. Constructed of lava flows, many aspects of this titanic volcano remain puzzling. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
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Sand Dune Field in Richardson Crater
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a view of the sand dune field in Richardson Crater covered with seasonal frost. The frost is a combination of frozen carbon dioxide and some water ice that covers the dunes in the winter and spring.
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Nili Fossae Trough, Candidate MSL Landing Site
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Nili Fossae region of Mars, one of the largest exposures of clay minerals, and a prime candidate landing site for Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity.
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Mission Summary
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO, has studied the Red Planet's atmosphere and terrain from orbit since 2006 and also serves as a key data relay station for other Mars missions, including the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
Equipped with a powerful camera called HiRISE that has aided in a number of discoveries, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has sent back thousands of stunning images of the Martian surface that are helping scientists learn more about Mars, including the history of water flows on or near the planet's surface.
Scientific Instrument(s)
- High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
- Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM)
- Mars Color Imager (MARCI)
- Context Imager (CTX)
- Shallow Radar (SHARAD)
- Mars Climate Sounder (MCS)
- Accelerometers
