[meteorite-list] Mars Longevity Champion Launched 15 Years Ago (Mars Odyssey)

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6268

Mars Longevity Champion Launched 15 Years Ago
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
April 5, 2016

The NASA spacecraft that was launched 15 years ago this week carried the 
name 2001 Mars Odyssey and the hopes for reviving a stymied program of 
exploring the Red Planet.

Back-to-back failures of two Mars missions launched in 1999 had prompted 
an overhaul of NASA's Mars plans. It worked: Not only has Odyssey itself 
operated successfully longer than any other spacecraft ever sent to Mars, 
but during Odyssey's lifespan so far, all six subsequent NASA missions 
sent to Mars have also succeeded.

A Delta II launch vehicle lifted Odyssey from Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station, Florida, on April 7, 2001. When the spacecraft reached Mars on 
Oct. 24, 2001, it fired its main engine to enter orbit. A three-month 
"aerobraking" phase followed, using carefully controlled dips into the 
upper atmosphere of Mars to adjust the size and shape of the orbit in 
preparation for systematic mapping of the Red Planet.

The year of the launch and arrival played into NASA naming the mission 
2001 Mars Odyssey as a tribute to the vision and spirit of space exploration 
portrayed in the works of science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, including 
the best-seller "2001: A Space Odyssey." Clarke (1917-2008) endorsed the 
mission's naming before the launch.

Odyssey completed its prime mission in 2004. With repeated mission extensions, 
it became the longevity champion of Mars spacecraft in December 2010.

"Every day for more than five years, Odyssey has been extending its record 
for how long a spacecraft can keep working at Mars," said Odyssey Project 
Manager David Lehman of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. 
"The spacecraft is remarkably healthy, and we have enough fuel to last 
for several more years."

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the Odyssey spacecraft and 
collaborates with JPL in mission operations.

"In addition to the quality of this spacecraft, the careful way it is 
operated has been crucial to how it has stayed so productive so long," 
said Odyssey Project Scientist Jeffrey Plaut of JPL. "Odyssey was designed 
for a four-year mission. We're in the 15th year, and it keeps doing everything 
we ask it to do."

Some of Odyssey's important findings were accomplished within the first 
year after launch. One suite of instruments found evidence for water ice 
close to the surface in large areas of Mars. Another investigation measured 
the natural radiation environment on the way from Earth to Mars and in 
orbit around Mars, gaining information vital for design of human missions 
in what has become NASA's Journey to Mars.

Odyssey's longevity has enabled other feats, such as complete global mapping 
of Mars both in daytime light and in nighttime infrared emissions.

Each full year of changing seasons on Mars lasts about 26 months, so Odyssey 
has observed the planet through more than six Martian years. These observations 
have revealed some seasonal patterns that repeat each year and other seasonal 
events, such as large dust storms, which differ significantly from year 
to year.

Just in the past year, Odyssey's orbit has put the spacecraft in position 
to observe Mars in early-morning light. Previously, the spacecraft flew 
over ground that was either in afternoon lighting or pre-dawn darkness. 
Maneuvers in 2014 and 2015 were designed to alter the geometry of the 
orbit with respect to the sun. The new geometry enables studies of morning 
clouds and fogs and comparison of ground temperatures in the morning to 
temperatures of the same sites in the afternoon and pre-dawn.

In addition to its direct contributions to planetary science, Odyssey 
provides important support for other missions in NASA's Journey to Mars 
through communication relay service and observations of candidate landing 
sites. More than 90 percent of the data received from NASA's Spirit and 
Opportunity rovers has been relayed via Odyssey. Relay support for NASA's 
Curiosity Mars rover is shared between the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 
and Odyssey.

For more information about Odyssey, visit:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey


News Media Contact

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.w.webster at jpl.nasa.gov 

Dwayne Brown / Laurie Cantillo
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 202-358-1077
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo at nasa.gov 

2016-096