WASHINGTON - With the selection of Lockheed Martin to build the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), NASA is one step nearer to getting a closer look at the Red Planet, but according to the project's program manager, Kevin McNeill, the spacecraft's builders face a wide variety of technical challenges.

Lockheed Martin was given the green light Wednesday to construct the MRO, to be launched in August 2005. The craft is to return the highest resolution images of the Martian surface ever taken by Mars-circling orbiters.

The MRO's duties demand precise pointing of camera gear at specific targets on Mars, and at the same time, maintain a tight lock on Earth for pumping out huge amounts of data, McNeill, MRO program manager for Lockheed Martin told SPACE.com.

"We'll be returning a tremendous amount of information that obviously many people would like to get hold of as soon as possible," McNeill said.

Weighing in at 3,970 pounds (1,800 kilograms), this data hog of a spacecraft is to return over 12 times the data of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) that now orbits the planet. After operating around Mars for over four years, the MGS has cranked out more than 101,000 images of the planet's surface.

McNeill said their MRO design teams have blueprinted the right mix of telecommunication system, command and data handling hardware, navigation and control mechanisms, and the software that makes the complex mission possible.

Lockheed Martin’s MRO will deploy major spacecraft elements shortly after reaching orbit, McNeill said, rather than unfurling those items at the planet. The company will be rigorous in conducting pre-launch checkouts to make sure MRO arrives at Mars ready for action, he said.

A data downpour from MRO is anticipated. According to JPL’s Graf, MRO will flood Earth with roughly 25 times the data volume of the now in transit Mars Odyssey, or the MGS already on task. Moreover, Mars experts look to MRO to offer looking glass service.

The spacecraft is to visualize objects just a few feet across. Such snapshots can help scientists not only scan high-priority locales on Mars, but gather data for selecting landing areas for future Mars return sample missions. That information can also be utilized to find touchdown zones for human expeditions – safe to land terrain but areas rich in scientific reward.

The Mars orbiter will tote a large, 10-feet (3-meter) in diameter dish antenna. That size dish, and the low altitude over Mars the craft flies, will offer challenging stability issues as MRO carries out aerobraking maneuvers.

McNeill said that another MRO assignment is providing a communication link to Earth for future Mars landers and other hardware that would dot the planet's surface in years to come.