Launch of the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. MGS was launched on November 7, 1996. MGS arrived at Mars on September 11, 1997.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA.
Instruments of the Mars Global Surveyor Mission
It has been more than 30 years since America's
first missions to Mars. Here are some of the instruments carried by the Mars Global Surveyor (called MGS for short). These instruments are designed to study the weather and surface of Mars:
- A camera.
- An instrument to measure the heights of things.
- An instrument to measure the warmth of the surface of Mars.
- This instrument will also make maps of minerals found on the surface.
- An instrument to study the magnetic
properties of Mars.
You might also be interested in:
An important new result from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission is the definite confirmation of the presence of a magnetosphere around Mars. Previous missions did not make very good measurements of
...moreThe Mars Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001. After a six-month journey, the Odyssey arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001. The instruments onboard the Mars Odyssey will study the minerals on the surface
...moreThe Mars 2005 mission is still in the planning stages. It is set to launch in the year 2005.
...moreAerobraking slowed the Mars Global Surveyor down when it reached Mars. Aerobraking also helped MGS to get into the right orbit for mapping the surface of Mars. Aerobraking means that the MGS flew through
...moreMars Global Surveyor carries an instrument which measures the heights of things. This instrument is called an altimeter, or "altitude-meter". The graph to the left shows the results returned from Mars
...moreMars Global Surveyor carries an instrument which measures the heights of things. The picture to the left shows Mars Global Surveyor's measurement of the size of the giant cliff which separates the southern
...moreMars Global Surveyor carries an instrument which measures the heights of things. The picture to the left shows the results returned from Mars Global Surveyor's measurement of the size of some of the Martian
...more