Mars Telecommunications Orbiter

Organization:	NASA NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Major Contractors:	JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
Mission Type:	Planetary Science Planetary science Planetary science is the scientific study of planets , moons, and planetary systems, in particular those of the Solar System and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation,... , Mars Exploration Exploration of Mars The exploration of Mars has been an important part of the space exploration programs of the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan. Dozens of robotic spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been launched toward Mars since the 1960s...
Satellite of:	Mars Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
Launch:	Cancelled
Launch Vehicle:	Possibly an Atlas V(401) or a Delta-4M Delta IV rocket Delta IV is an active expendable launch system in the Delta rocket family. Delta IV uses rockets designed by Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems division and built in the United Launch Alliance facility in Decatur, Alabama. Final assembly is completed at the launch site by ULA... .
End of Mission:	Cancelled
Planned Mission Duration:	1 year cruise plus 10 years on orbit
Mass Mass Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:... :	1,800 kilograms
NSSDC ID:	Undetermined
Webpage:	JPL's MTO web page
Orbital elements Orbital elements Orbital elements are the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit. In celestial mechanics these elements are generally considered in classical two-body systems, where a Kepler orbit is used...
Semi-major axis Semi-major axis The major axis of an ellipse is its longest diameter, a line that runs through the centre and both foci, its ends being at the widest points of the shape... :	5,000 kilometers
Eccentricity:	Unknown
Inclination Inclination Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit... :	Unknown
Orbital Period:	Unknown
Aphelion:	Unknown
Perihelion:	Unknown
Orbits:	Unknown
Planned Instruments
Electra :	Relay science data from future Mars missions
Optical Communications Payload:	Demonstrate laser communications to Earth
Narrow Angle Camera:	Support canister detection
Orbiting Sample Demonstration Canister:	Technology demonstration

The Mars Telecommunications Orbiter was a cancelled Mars mission that was originally intended to launch in 2009 and would have established an Interplanetary Internet

Interplanetary Internet

The Interplanetary Internet is a conceived computer network in space, consisting of a set of network nodes which can communicate with each other. Communication would be greatly delayed by the great interplanetary distances, so the IPN needs a new set of protocols and technology that are tolerant...

 between Earth and Mars. The spacecraft would have arrived in a high orbit above Mars in 2010 and relayed data packets to Earth from a variety of Mars landers and orbiters for as long as ten years, at an extremely high data rate. Such a dedicated communications satellite was thought to be necessary due to the vast quantity of scientific information to be sent to Earth by such landers as the Mars Science Laboratory

Mars Science Laboratory

The Mars Science Laboratory is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration mission with the aim to land and operate a rover named Curiosity on the surface of Mars. The MSL was launched November 26, 2011, at 10:02 EST and is scheduled to land on Mars at Gale Crater between August 6 and 20, 2012...

. However, on July 21, 2005, it was announced that MTO had been cancelled due to the need to support other short-term goals, including a Hubble

Hubble Space Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by a Space Shuttle in 1990 and remains in operation. A 2.4 meter aperture telescope in low Earth orbit, Hubble's four main instruments observe in the near ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared...

 servicing mission, Mars Exploration Rover

Mars Exploration Rover

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission is an ongoing robotic space mission involving two rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, exploring the planet Mars...

 extended mission operations, ensuring that the Mars Science Laboratory would fly in 2009 (despite the cancellation of Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, Mars Science Laboratory is scheduled to launch in late 2011), and to save the ill-fated Earth science mission Glory from cancellation(Glory was later lost in launch).

Data transfer technology

The Mars Telecommunications Orbiter was a project to demonstrate optical communications using laser

Laser

A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...

, instead of usual radiowaves. "Lasercom sends information using beams of light and optical elements, such as telescopes and optical amplifiers, rather than RF signals, amplifiers, and antennas"

Proposed successors

After the cancellation of the Telecommunications Orbiter, a broader mission was proposed as the Mars Science and Telecommunications Orbiter. However, this mission was soon criticized as lacking well-defined parameters and objectives. Another mission has since been proposed as the 2013 Mars Science Orbiter

2013 Mars Science Orbiter

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter , sometimes referred to as Trace Gas Mission by NASA, is a flexible collaborative proposal within NASA and the European Space Agency to send a new orbiter-carrier to Mars in 2016 as part of the European-led ExoMars mission.This orbiter would deliver the ExoMars...

. The communications capability provided by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...

 and Mars Express

Mars Express

Mars Express is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency . The Mars Express mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was...

science missions has proven substantial, demonstrating that dedicated relay satellites may be unnecessary in the near future.

External links

• End-to-End Information System Concept for the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter – March, 2006 NASA JPL report describing the mission.
• NASA To Test Laser Communications With Mars Spacecraft – By Brian Berger, Space News, 25 May 2005