Once the Orbiter's path around Mars is small enough, bursts from its thruster place the Orbiter in a circular path, 250 miles above the Martian surface, circling the planet every two hours. Once it has achieved a stable orbit, the Orbiter will prepare for its study of Mars by deploying its high-gain antenna and solar panels. If all goes well, the Orbiter will be studying Mars and returning data to Earth for almost a full year.