Friday, October 9, 2020

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Monitored by Canadian Ham

Artist's conception of Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter above
the planet's surface.
(NASA image)

An amateur in British Columbia has reported receiving signals from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is flying 170 miles above the surface of the red planet. 

Spaceweather.com reports that Scott Tilley, VE7TH, monitored a carrier from the satellite on 10 GHz, but the signal did not contain any telemetry or other data. The orbiter has a high-gain antenna and is intended to act as a relay station for signals from other Mars missions.