Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter learns new trick at the age of 19: ‘very large rolls’

The team behind NASA's 19-year-old Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been busy teaching an old spacecraft new tricks, persuading the vehicle to perform a 120-degree roll to peer more clearly into the red planet. The mission team imaginatively calls the maneuvers "very large rolls," and they involve nearly flipping the …

[Alistair]

American attitudes of late

Can best be demonstrated by HHS, where science is being banned and social media wasteland resources are fed to AI to generate "Scientific" papers (tm). Sadly NASA may want to move its head office to Winterpeg, where it might find a few more folks willing to listen to real facts, instead of horseshit.

[Gary Stewart]

Re: American attitudes of late

Not sure why this has 3 down votes as it is factually correct. RFK Jr. has admitted before a congressional committee and I believe under oath that no one should take medical advice from him and yet he controls all "medical" advice spewing from HHS. The worst thing about all of Trumps cabinet picks is that not one of them is even remotely qualified for their jobs and because it involves the health of the entire nation, RFK Jr. is by far the most dangerous. Barring Trump and Hegseth starting WWIII of course which is a remote but not unthinkable possibility.

[Bebu sa Ware]

Re: American attitudes of late

"Barring Trump and Hegseth starting WWIII of course which is a remote but not unthinkable possibility."....

and losing - a possibility neither remote nor unthinkable given both their limited competencies.

[David Newall]

Re: American attitudes of late

"by far the most dangerous. Barring Trump and Hegseth starting WWIII of course which is a remote but not unthinkable possibility"

Wouldn't a world war allow him to suspend elections? Seems not remote, but highly likely.

[Boris Dyne]

Re: American attitudes of late

I would be an election with the smallest electorate in the history of America - just F47, Steven Goebbels and Howard Licksnuts. So a landslide. They'd rule the bunker. Melania would, of course be in an entirely different bunker, whose location they didn't know about.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

I like it

Extending a mission, finding new uses... When thinking logically: That is the cheapest way to get more out of it. And those genius heads at work there, that is impressive...

[Anonymous Coward]

19 year old NASA project

Does this mean the MRO has suitable government issued proof-of-age to be allowed to watch porn in Texas?

Hay, where is it pointing the camera now?

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Re: 19 year old NASA project

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mars+sexy+rocks+-bruno+-sailor&t=h_&iar=images

[that one in the corner]

Missions that are already flying still at risk of being cancelled

Will future[1] mission designs be best served by making the craft capable of more long-term autonomy and bulk data storage, so that they are able to survive the shut down of their Mission Control for a period of time (say, four years - plus k months to get it all out of mothballs)?

[1] ever the optimist

[Anonymous Coward]

mysterious mars

With people like musk and trump around you feel they would love to chuck away all that is already known so they can pretend to discover all over again,assuming musk manages to land his exploding starship somewhere one day.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: mysterious mars

His latest Starship is already being examined by aliens.

Mexicans to be precise.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Very large rolls"

How large? Compared to, say, a stotty?

Hmmm, Greggs, uurrggle

[Philo T Farnsworth]

Re: "Very large rolls"

Odd. My brain kept reading the headline as "Very large trolls."

[Simon Harris]

"Very large rolls"

Rolls of 120 degrees in a system designed for up to 30 degrees.

So these rolls are:

Beyond

Angular

Precautionary

Settings.

[Maurice Mynah]

Re: "Very large rolls"

as you'd expect from a

Big Angular Roll Manoeuvre Commanding Additional Kinetic Expertise