The delayed Mars Global Surveyor has finally reached the right orbit. Last
week the engines pulled the spacecraft into a roughly circular orbit 367
kilometres above the surface of Mars. The satellite used the drag of the thin
atmosphere against its solar panels to bring it in closer to Mars. “It’s a year
later than we anticipated,” says Glenn Cunningham, the manager of NASA’s Mars
Surveyor Operations Project. The surveyor will soon begin mapping the planet’s
surface.
More from ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Popular articles
Trending ¿ìè¶ÌÊÓƵ articles
1
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
2
The best new science-fiction books of June 2026
3
Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything
4
How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin – and aliens
5
Aim high but don't shoot for the moon, mathematicians advise
6
First quantum grandfather clock could probe where gravity comes from
7
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
8
Mathematicians stunned by AI's biggest breakthrough in mathematics yet
9
Wealthy people with environmental ideals are the biggest emitters
10
Embryos made without sperm or eggs reveal why many pregnancies fail
