MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER: TEN YEARS OF MANEUVER SUPPORT FOR SCIENCE OPERATIONS AND ENTRY, DESCENT, AND LANDING SEQUENCES

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was launched in August 2005 and attained an orbit around Mars in March 2006. After transitioning to its primary orbit, MRO began science operations in November 2006. Since then, nearly 50 propulsive maneuvers were executed to maintain MRO in its science orbit and position it for relay support of three arriving spacecraft: Phoenix lander in May 2008, Mars Science Laboratory in August 2012, and ExoMars Schiaparelli lander in October 2016. This paper will discuss the performance of these maneuvers and MRO's planned relay support of the InSight Entry, Descent, and Landing phase in 2018.