Looking for a Comeback

Posted by tourdemars to Mars Odyssey at April 6, 2001 12:00 PM

The Mars Odyssey, due to blast off for the Red Planet on Saturday from Cape Canaveral, will carry with it a hefty list of objectives, from snapping detailed images of Mars, to detecting the planet's mineral content, to measuring radiation levels in its orbit. From these measurements — which promise to be more detailed than data gleaned in previous missions — NASA hopes to understand how prevalent water may be on Mars and whether the planet might host life. But, above all, the Mars Odyssey mission must do this: Not fail.