With this spacecraft, we never had a quiet cruise to Mars. We didn't do just basic maintenance, we conducted major science and engineering calibrations to test how well the instruments were doing in space. These activities help shorten the learning curve for us when we get to Mars and start mapping.

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Orbit insertion is 'make it or break it' time. You either do it or you don't, and if you don't, you're done. We're making sure that the spacecraft has the best shot of making it into orbit around Mars.

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