NASA is hosting a news briefing at 9 a.m. Pacific time (noon Eastern time) on Monday, Oct. 16, to present remarkably detailed Mars images returned by NASA’s newest Mars spacecraft during its first week of low-orbit observations.

The briefing will be held at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, Calif., and will air live on NASA TV and on the Web.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter made these initial test observations of several regions of Mars with a suite of powerful instruments, including a mineral-mapping spectrometer, and the telescopic camera that showed a rover on the Martian surface in one image released last week. It will begin its main science phase in November after Mars comes back out from behind the sun.

Panelists:

  • Dr. Steve Saunders, program scientist, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA Headquarters, Washington
  • Dr. Scott Murchie, principal investigator, Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.
  • Dr. Alfred McEwen, principal investigator, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, University of Arizona, Tucson
  • Dr. Rich Zurek, project scientist, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, JPL Jim Graf, project manager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, JPL.

Reporters who would like to attend the briefing at JPL must contact the Media Relations Office in advance at 818-354-5011. Valid media credentials are required, and non-U.S. citizens must also bring a passport.

The briefing will air live on NASA TV with question-and-answer capability from participating NASA centers and by phone. To get the phone-in number, reporters should call JPL’s Media Relations Office at 818-354-5011 in advance. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and schedule information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/MRO