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Space Topics: Mars Global Surveyor

Mission Facts


Spacecraft

Spacecraft mass:

  • Total: 1,060 kilograms/2,336 pounds
  • Instruments: 76 kilograms/167 pounds
  • Fuel: 388 kilograms/855 pounds

Spacecraft description:

  • Box-shape body: approximately 1.2 meters square by 1.7 meters high or about 4 feet square by 5.5 feet
  • Solar panels: extended, about 9 meters/29.5 feet tip-to-tip
  • High gain antenna: 1.5 meters/about 5 feet diameter
  • Boom: 2 meters/6.5 feet long
Mars Global Surveyor launch
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Mars Global Surveyor launch
Mars Global Surveyor launched on November 7, 1996 aboard a Delta II rocket from Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA / KSC

Mission Timeline

Launch: November 7, 1996 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a Delta-7925
Mars arrival: September 11, 1997
Aerobraking began: September 17, 1997
Mapping operations began: February 22, 1999
End of primary mission: February 1, 2001
Extended mission:  February 2, 2001
Loss of contact: November 5, 2006

Orbit

Type: Nearly circular, polar
Altitude: 375 to 445 kilometers or 233 miles to 276 miles
Period: 117 minutes

Mission cost

Total cost: $210 million
Development and construction: $154 million
Launch: $65 million
Operations: about $20 million per year