Everything about Mars Odyssey totally explained
2001 Mars Odyssey is a
robotic spacecraft orbiting the planet
Mars. Its mission is to use
spectrometers and
imagers to hunt for evidence of past or present
water and
volcanic activity on Mars. It is hoped that the data Odyssey obtains will help answer the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. It also acts as a relay for communications between the
Mars Explorations Rovers and
Phoenix lander to
Earth. The mission was named after the movie, and refers to the differences between the movie and real life by the year
2001.
Odyssey was launched
April 7,
2001 on a
Delta II rocket from
Cape Canaveral,
Florida, and reached Mars on
October 24, 2001, 0230
Universal Time (
October 23, 7:30 p.m. PDT/ 10:30 EDT). The spacecraft's main engine fired to brake the spacecraft's speed and allowed it to be captured into orbit around Mars. Odyssey used a technique called "
aerobraking" that gradually brought the spacecraft closer to Mars with each orbit. By using the atmosphere of Mars to slow down the spacecraft in its orbit rather than firing its engine or thrusters, Odyssey was able to save more than 200 kilograms (440 pounds) of propellant. Aerobraking ended in January, and began its science mapping mission on
February 19,
2002.
Scientific instruments
The three primary instruments Odyssey uses are the:
On
May 28,
2002,
NASA reported that Odyssey's GRS had detected large amounts of
hydrogen, a sign that there must be ice lying within a meter of the planet's surface.
Mission
NASA has approved an extended mission through September 2008 to allow observation of year-to-year differences in phenomena like polar ice, clouds and dust storms. The extension will also continue Odyssey's support for other Mars missions. About 85 percent of images and other data from NASA's twin Mars
rovers,
Spirit and
Opportunity, have reached Earth via communications relay by Odyssey, which receives transmissions from both rovers every day. The orbiter helped analyze potential landing sites for the rovers and performed the same task for NASA's
Phoenix mission, which landed on Mars in May, 2008. Odyssey aided NASA's
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars in March 2006, by monitoring atmospheric conditions during months when the newly arrived orbiter uses aerobraking to alter its orbit into the desired shape.
Naming
Mars Odyssey was originally named the
Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter and was intended to have a companion spacecraft known as
Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander. The lander mission was canceled in May 2000 following the failures of
Mars Climate Orbiter and
Mars Polar Lander in late 1999. Subsequently, the name
2001 Mars Odyssey was selected for the orbiter as a specific tribute to the vision of space exploration shown in works by
Arthur C. Clarke, including . The music from
Mythodea by Greek composer
Vangelis was used as the theme music for the mission.
The project was developed by
NASA, and contracted out to
Lockheed Martin. The expected cost for the entire mission is US$297 million.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mars Odyssey'.
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