Mars Global Surveyor Achieves Mapping Orbit

Posted by jburk to Mars Global Surveyor at February 24, 1999 12:00 PM

The Mars Global Surveyor mission has finally entered into a mapping orbit after completing a successful campaign of aerobraking. The mission was originally scheduled to complete aerobraking over a year ago, but a problem with one of the spacecraft's solar panels prompted mission controllers to use more conservative aerobraking techniques, which took a lot longer.