With its biggest orbit manoeuvre since 2006, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is preparing for the arrival of NASA's next Mars lander called InSight next year.
Today, the Mars orbiter will be engaged in a 77-second firing of six intermediate-size thrusters that will adjust the orbit timing of the veteran spacecraft.
The move will put the orbiter in position to receive radio transmissions from InSight as the newcomer descends through the Martian atmosphere and touches down on September 28 next year, the US space agency said in a statement.
"Without making this orbit change manoeuvre, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter would be unable to hear from InSight during the landing, but this will put us in the right place at the right time," said MRO project manager Dan Johnston of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
This is the same exercise that MRO did for the landings of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover three years ago and NASA's Phoenix Mars lander in 2008.
After the InSight landing, the scientists will prepare MRO to perform a pair of even larger manoeuvres in October 2016 and April 2017 -- each using the six intermediate-size thrusters longer than three minutes.
US Warns Iran Faces "Cataclysmic" Consequences If It Strikes Israel Group Backed By Bloomberg, NASA To Launch 1st Methane-Hunting Satellite Joe Biden Goes From Star To Sideshow At Democratic Convention Villagers Try To Drive Away Elephant With Spiked Rods, Fireballs. It Dies Air India Cabin Crew Member Assaulted In Her London Hotel Room "Mamata Banerjee Misleading Public, Should Resign": Nirbhaya's Mother Air India Cabin Crew Member Assaulted In Her London Hotel Room Donald Trump Says He Is "Much Better Looking" Than Rival Kamala Harris World Photography Day: Date, History And Significance Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.