Engineers and scientists with NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spoke at a news conference on Feb. 24, 2006, about the mission's upcoming arrival at the red planet on March 10, 2006. The mission launched on Aug. 12, 2005. It will gather more data about Mars than all previous Mars missions combined. More information on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: www.nasa.gov/mro and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/ .

CUT 1– FOR PRODUCTION PURPOSES: NATURAL SOUND OF THE LAUNCH OF MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER FROM CAPE CANAVERAL , FLORIDA , ON AUGUST 12, 2005 .
Running time: :41
OUT: ROCKET SOUND ENDS
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Transcript of CUT 1:
"T minus10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition, and liftoff of the Atlas 5 rocket with MRO surveying for the deepest insights into the mysterious evolution of Mars. This audio is followed by ground controller dialogue, mixed with rocket sounds"

CUT 2– DOUG MCCUISTION (MAH-KWIST-SHIN), PROGRAM DIRECTOR FOR NASA MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM, SAYS MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER'S TEAM WILL BE NERVOUS DURING THE CRITICAL MARS ORBIT INSERTION PHASE ON MARCH 10.
Running time: :11
OUT: "ON THE SURFACE"
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Transcript of CUT 2:
"Orbiters seem like they might be the easiest thing to do, but I reality we only have about a 65-percent success rate of getting orbiters into orbit, whereas landers, we have about an 80-percent success rate of getting them on the surface"
Note: The percentages refer to NASA Mars missions; the figure for the world's Mars missions overall is lower.

CUT 3– MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER PROJECT MANAGER JIM GRAF OF NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL), PASADENA, CALIF., SAYS EXPERIENCE PROVES THAT MARS ORBIT INSERTION IS RISKY.
Running time: :13
OUT: "LAST 15 YEARS"
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Transcript of CUT 3:
"We're getting into the dangerous portion of the mission. The cruise has not been easy. We've accomplished an awful lot during that. But now we're starting to enter into the realm where we've lost two spacecraft in the last 15 years."

CUT 4– JIM GRAF EXPLAINS THAT AFTER ARRIVAL AT MARS, MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER WILL HAVE TO DO HALF A YEAR OF AEROBRAKING TO GET INTO A LOW, CIRCULAR ORBIT AROUND THE RED PLANET.
Running time: :09
OUT: "OURSELVES DOWN"
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Transcript of CUT 4:
" We do this by grazing the atmosphere each orbit and allowing the friction of the atmosphere against the spacecraft to slow ourselves down "

CUT 5– DR. MICHAEL MEYER SAYS MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER WILL BE A GREAT MULTI-TASKER.
Running time: :12
OUT: "OF EXPLORATION"
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Transcript of CUT 5:
"It's going to be a weather satellite, it's going to be a surveyor able to identify geological features, minerals, the subsurface structure. It' going to be a communications relay and a guide to the next decade of exploration."

CUT 6– DR. MICHAEL MEYER ANTICIPATES FASCINATING DISCOVERIES FROM MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER .
Running time: :09
OUT: "OF TODAY"
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Transcript of CUT 6:
"I can only imagine the number of exciting things that we're going to find on the planet. Maybe something like acient Lake Bonneville or maybe Yellowstone of today."

From a previous interview:
CUT 7– DR. RICHARD ZUREK, MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER PROJECT SCIENTIST AT JPL, EXPLAINS HOW NASA'S MARS MISSIONS SEEK TO "FOLLOW THE WATER."
Running time: :21
OUT: "ON THE PLANET"
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Transcript of CUT 7:
"Water is essential if you want to understand the climate, it shapes the surface, the channels, the canyons. It's a powerful agent on Mars just as it has been on the Earth. For life, water is essential to life as we know it. So if you can find places where water has been, that may be the best place to look for evidence of whether life ever developed on the planet."

For a related podcast visit Approaching the Red Planet .