NASA probe bids to orbit Mars

A NASA spacecraft was last night undertaking the riskiest manoeuvre of its seven-month mission to Mars as it attempts to lock itself into a low orbit.

The craft is on a mission to examine the Red Planet in unprecedented detail.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, loaded with the most sophisticated science instruments ever flown to another planet, has travelled 310 million miles. It fired its engines yesterday, slowing down so it can be captured into the planet’s orbit.