The MRO probe sent the first images of Mars

NASA NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe has sent the first images with high resolution of the low-orbit-based Martian surface thanks to the HiRise camera.

This first photo was taken on September 29 above the Lus Chasma region, one of the branches of Valles Marineris, a large canyon area on Mars. The resolution of the photo is 29.7cm / pixel, allowing the stones to be seen with a diameter of only 90cm.

MRO went into orbit around the "red planet" on March 10, 2006 and spent six months modifying the position. When entering the orbit, the probe moved in an oval-shaped trajectory that ranged from 300 to 45,000 km. Currently the ship has been stabilized in orbit 250 to 316km and will begin the first observation phase in November 2006, lasting for 2 years.

During this time, the MRO will send a massive amount of data to scientists 10 times higher than previous explorers. But it has to wait after October because when Mars is obscured by the Sun from Earth, the explorers and the Mars explorer robots will be off for a month.