Abstract The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched on August 12, 2005 by an Atlas V Launch vehicle from Cape

Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The MRO will carry a rich set of science instruments to Mars and provide global, regional survey, and targeted observations. MRO has the capability to communicate with earth at a maximum of six Megabits per second. With the current Deep Space Network-DSNcontact schedule of 19 eight-hour tracks per week, the baseline mission plan is for MRO to return 34 terabits of raw science data during the two-year primary science phase. For the duration of the mission, the MRO operations teams were presented with two major challenges-unprecedented high data rate and data volumes, and complex science planning and resource sharing. Each of the science instruments had its unique requirements for global mapping, regional survey, and targeted observations. Some instruments prefer nadir-only observations, while others require offnadir observations. The requirements from these Mars viewing instruments presented a significant challenge for the operations team to design the complex science planning and resource allocation process. This paper is describing MROs significant in-flight anomalies, with lessons learned for ground operations

Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Mission 3.0 System Description 3.1Ground Data System 3.2DSN Upgrade 3.3CFDP Processing 3.4Data Distribution 3.5Data Accountability 4.0 Mission Phases 4.1Launch 4.2Cruise & Orbit Insertion 4.3Aero-braking 4.4Primary Science 4.5Relay 5.0 Implementation Schedule 6.0 Conclusion 7.0 Reference