Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Reaches Final Orbit

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter fired its main thrusters for 12.5 minutes on Monday, adjusting the spacecraft into its final orbit around the Red Planet. Its altitude now ranges between 250 kilometers (155 miles) to 316 kilometers (196 miles) above the Martian surface - its final science orbit. The spacecraft will still need to deploy the large antenna for the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument, and remove the lens cap from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer, which will map the surface of Mars for minerals.

Hooray!