Classification:
Orbiter spacecraft.Mission:
Mars mapping.Features:
The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft will be launched in November 1996 on a Delta 7925 launch vehicle. It will carry all but two of the eight science instruments that were aboard Mars Observer, providing high-resolution, global maps of the Martian surface, profiling the planet's atmosphere, and studying the nature of the magnetic field. Mars Global Surveyor will take ten months to reach Mars, entering a polar orbit around the planet in September 1997.Stabilization: Three-axis stabilized via reaction wheels and thrusters.
Also see the Mars Global Surveyor Project Home Page.
