Mars orbiter bang on target

450 million NASA spacecraft dropped smoothly into orbit around Mars on Friday, successfully completing a make-or-break maneuver in its two-year mission to search the red planet for life and find landing spots for future astronauts.

Mission controllers at NASA8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena erupted in cheers when the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which left Earth in August, signaled that it had achieved orbit around a planet that has defeated two-thirds of the probes sent there. 8220;It8217;s almost like dodging a bullet,8221; said Dan McCleese, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory8217;s chief Mars scientist. 8220;It8217;s going to take a few trips around the planet to know for sure, but from what we can see so far it8217;s a near-perfect entry into orbit.8221;

The Orbiter will spend six months making some 500 trips around Mars. The most advanced vessel ever sent to another planet, with instruments that can study an object on the Martian surface the size of a desk, it will search for signs of life and scout sites where astronauts may land years from now. 8212;Reuters