NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is set to arrive at the red planet Friday after a seven-month trip from Earth.

The largest orbiter sent to Mars in 30 years by NASA, the MRO spacecraft launched on Aug. 12, 2005 with six primary instruments to study the Martian surface, atmosphere and potential underground water and ice deposits. Armed with what’s billed as the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet, MRO is expected pick out choice landing spots for future Mars-bound spacecraft and may even solve the mystery of a lost 1999 lander in the process.

Here’s a handy primer on NASA’s MRO spacecraft, its mission and its road to Mars.

-- Tariq Malik