What is the name of the NASA orbiter launched in 2005 with the HiRISE camera?

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The NASA orbiter launched in 2005 with the HiRISE camera was the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

NASA launched MRO on August 12, 2005, aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral. It reached Mars on March 10, 2006, then used months of aerobraking to settle into its final science orbit. Its mission combined climate and geology studies with reconnaissance of landing sites and communications support for spacecraft on the surface.

HiRISE—the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment—is MRO's most famous instrument, but it is only one part of the spacecraft's payload. The orbiter also carries other cameras, spectrometers, and the SHARAD subsurface radar. HiRISE can resolve details smaller than a meter across, allowing scientists to examine gullies, dunes, impact sites, landers, and rovers.

A common mix-up is confusing MRO with Mars Odyssey or Mars Global Surveyor, which are also NASA Mars orbiters. MAVEN arrived later and focuses primarily on the upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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