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Showing Articles for: Mars Odyssey Total Articles: 184 Newest: Sep 24, 2007 |
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The martian radiation environment experiment on NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter has collected data continuously from the start of the Odyssey mapping mission in March 2002 until late last month. The instrument has successfully monitored space radiation to evaluate the risks to future Mars-bound astronauts. Its measurements are the first of their kind to be obtained during an interplanetary cruise and in orbit around another planet.
NASA's Mars Odyssey team has released another significant installment of science data for the public and science community to review and analyze. "The three instrument suites onboard Odyssey continue to produce excellent data," said Jeffrey Plaut, Project Scientist for the mission.
High school students in computer graphics courses at Mountainland Applied Technology College are helping a NASA mission to Mars. "I'm excited but a little nervous," said Shaun Watson, 17, a Provo High School senior. "It's going to be so big and everyone's going to be relying on us." Students in two MATC multimedia courses will serve as one of 54 Mars Exploration Student Data Teams, assisting NASA as two rovers launched last summer land on the red planet in January and begin exploring.
Mars was once wet. Or was it dry? Different minerals tell different stories of the planet's aquatic history. And those contradictions are among the results published in the journal Science today based on the observations of the Odyssey spacecraft. NASA's Mars orbiter was launched in 2001 from Cape Canaveral. During its studies, Odyssey spotted the minerals hematite and olivine at different spots on Mars. One forms in the presence of water. The other quickly weathers away in water. There's the dilemma.
A new view of the geology of the Red Planet is emerging from data gathered by the Mars Odyssey (MO) spacecraft which has been observing the Red Planet for a year. The probe is providing a new understanding about the composition of Mars' surface rocks, geological history, radiation levels and potential landing sites for rovers. "In just one year, Mars Odyssey has fundamentally changed our understanding of the nature of the materials on and below the surface of Mars," says Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey's project scientist.
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has transformed the way scientists are looking at the red planet. "In just one year, Mars Odyssey has fundamentally changed our understanding of the nature of the materials on and below the surface of Mars," said Dr. Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey's project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
If the water-ice hidden just below the Martian surface were to melt, it would create a planet-wide sea ankle-deep, scientists have said. The latest findings from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft now in orbit around the Red Planet were released here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The spacecraft's instruments have been trained on the Martian soil for nearly a year.
Of course, Mars has no reasonable-sized moon to light the night or add romance to a lover's stroll. Its two small companions hasten across the sky like fireflies and the surface below remains dark and cold, but there are degrees of cold, and the THEMIS Infra-Red (IR) Camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft is sensitive to the different wavelengths of IR light, from which we can measure the surface temperature both at night and day.
The latest observations from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, highlighting water ice distribution and infrared images of the Red Planet's surface, are being released this week at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., expect to see historic pieces from humankind's quest to conquer the sky and the dark realm beyond. But a new exhibit brings visitors to the forefront of space exploration as it is happening now. The exhibit, which is on display indefinitely, features the latest images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) aboard NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which is now orbiting Mars. Controlled by a team at Arizona State University (ASU), THEMIS records daytime and nighttime images of the martian surface at visible and infrared wavelengths. This information provides insight about temperature changes on the surface, as well as the planet's mineralogy and topography.
Dr. Jeffrey Plaut has been named project scientist for NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey mission, succeeding Dr. R. Stephen Saunders who has retired. Plaut had been the deputy project scientist for Odyssey. Plaut came to JPL in 1991 and has served on the Magellan mission to Venus and three space shuttle radar missions. He is currently the co-principal investigator on the 2003 Mars Express radar sounder and a team member on the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter radar team.
Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air & Space Museum are getting a firsthand look at the research capabilities of ASU. The work done in ASU’s Planetary Imaging Facility, led by ASU Korrick Professor of Geology Phil Christensen, is getting major attention as part of a new exhibit at the museum, located in Washington, D.C. The exhibit, on display indefinitely, features never before seen images as they are downloaded directly from the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Mars. “Going through the museum as a kid and seeing everything from Spirit of St. Louis to the Apollo 11 space capsule was a remarkable experience,” says Christensen. “Having our Mars images on display in the same museum is a real thrill for me, and gives excellent exposure to the entire ASU THEMIS Team.”
The young and young at heart can take part in Mars exploration, whether by naming two red planet rovers or sending their names along with them. The Planetary Society and NASA have teamed up to sponsor a contest for students to name two rovers expected to launch in the summer of 2003. The competition is open to children between the ages of 5 and 18 in kindergarten to the 12th grade in U.S. schools. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2003.
Like any travelers worth their frequent flyer miles, the twin rovers of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission must prepare for a long journey. Unlike airline passengers, however, the rovers won't have an attentive flight crew to tend to their needs. Instead, the twins face a daunting 460 million kilometer (286 million mile) voyage to Mars. To ensure their readiness, scientists and engineers at JPL are testing the rovers by simulating conditions they'll experience en route to and upon arrival at the red planet.
November 14, 2002 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (UTC - 8 Hours) Join the Principal Investigators for the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission as they explain Odyssey's initial discoveries and take questions from schools, museums and employees at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during a live interactive webcast broadcast from JPL's von Karman auditorium.
A permanent cache of frozen water probably lies underneath the seasonal cap of carbon dioxide that covers the north pole of Mars, planetary scientists announced Tuesday. The conclusion is based on data from a NASA satellite orbiting the red planet, the Mars Odyssey, which watched the seasonal polar cap shrink between winter and spring this year.
NASA has released the first set of data taken by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to the Planetary Data System, which will now make the information available to research scientists through a new online distribution and access system. "This release is a major milestone for Mars scientists worldwide, since the first validated data from our instruments are now available to the entire scientific community," said Dr. R. Stephen Saunders, the Odyssey project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "There are fundamentally new kinds of information in these data sets, including day and night infrared images, maps of hydrogen in the soil, and radiation hazard data for future Mars missions."
In today's release from the NASA/ASU/THEMIS team, an image showing the floor of the Hellas Basin, there is an apparently "low-key" announcement of liquid water on the surface of Mars.
The outspoken Robert H. Williams explores his personal battles with NASA, including the filing of a Freedom Of Information Act request which led to his termination from teaching at a New York state university. Also, why hasn't NASA/ASU released the raw data from Odyssey after 6 months, as their contract states they must?
Vast reservoirs of underground ice on the Red Planet and other exciting discoveries by Mars Odyssey will be reviewed in Honolulu this week by the team that developed the spacecraft's key instrument. "We were really surprised at just how much ice was buried just inches beneath the surface," William Boynton, of the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Institute, said in an interview here. Mars Odyssey was launched by NASA on April 7 last year and is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It carries a Gamma Ray Spectrometer -- three instruments in one -- designed to analyze the chemical composition of Mars' surface and detect water at shallow depths.
Every morning, I go to Mars, Dr. Nathalie Cabrol says with a smile as she stands before a collage of Mars images in a darkened auditorium. Everyone is listening. And, with Nathalie, they go to Mars to see the craters, volcanoes, terraces, sedimentary layers, boulders, dried up ponds and washes. Time flies, and when the lights come up, Nathalie's excitement and passion have drawn even more people to the joys of exploring Mars.
NASA's Mars Odyssey has passed a major mechanical hurdle, deploying on June 4 a long mast that is capped by scientific sensors. The science gear is critical in determining the elemental makeup of the Martian surface.
Using instruments on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, surprised scientists have found enormous quantities of buried treasure lying just under the surface of Mars -- enough water ice to fill Lake Michigan twice over. And that may be only the tip of the iceberg. "This is really amazing," says William Boynton of the University of Arizona. "This is the best direct evidence we have of subsurface water ice on Mars." Indeed, he added, "what we have found is much more ice than we ever expected." "It may be better to characterize this layer as dirty ice rather than as dirt containing ice," notes Boynton. The amount of hydrogen detected corresponds to 20% to 50% ice by mass in the lower layer. Because rock has a greater density than ice, this amount is more than 50 percent water ice by volume. This means that if one heated a full bucket of this ice-rich polar soil it would result in more than half a bucket of liquid water.
The NASA spacecraft Odyssey's measurements of the planet Mars' huge cache of subsurface ice is yet another piece of data shoring up a controversial claim based on information found by the dual Viking landers in the 1970s. Not only is water ice an elixir for Martian life, it will help support human explorers of the future. Gilbert Levin, now CEO of Spherix Incorporated in Beltsville, Maryland, is long-time advocate that his Viking experiment did find Mars life. Levin has also long supported a view that liquid water exists on the surface of Mars.
Using instruments on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, surprised scientists have found enormous quantities of buried treasure lying just under the surface of Mars -- enough water ice to fill Lake Michigan twice over. And that may just be the tip of the iceberg. "This is really amazing. This is the best direct evidence we have of subsurface water ice on Mars. We were hopeful that we could find evidence of ice, but what we have found is much more ice than we ever expected," said Dr. William Boynton, principal investigator for Odyssey's gamma ray spectrometer suite at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
When the Mars Observer spacecraft disappeared into the cold void of space nine years ago, it broke Bill Feldman's heart. Feldman, 62, a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist, had worked since 1984 to develop an instrument for the spacecraft called a neutron spectrometer. There was no room to fit the instrument, which is smaller than a shoe box and weighs about 8 pounds, on subsequent missions to the planet until the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. It took nearly a decade, but Feldman finally got a second chance with Odyssey, which was launched in early 2001 and successfully reached orbit in October. A few months ago, the instrument returned some surprising results - including showing that hydrogen, which many think indicates water, is more abundant on Mars than previously believed.
There is a dark side to Mars. Experts studying the reddish globe in the infrared see a wonderland of nighttime surprise. Through the art of sunless science, researchers are trying to discern whether Mars is a percolating planet of still huffing volcanoes and hot shot geysers. Since nudging itself into a science orbit around the planet in February, NASA's Mars Odyssey has been busily snapping images of martian terrain in both infrared and visible light. That job belongs to the probe's Thermal Emission Imaging System - better known in spectral splendor shorthand as THEMIS. "It's like wearing night vision goggles. With the nighttime infrared…it's a whole new planet," said James Rice, senior ASU Mars scientist on Odyssey's THEMIS team. "It's the star of the show. I think that probably the major discoveries will come out of the infrared. I had no clue we'd be seeing things like we're seeing," he said.
There is good reason Mars is named after the Roman god of war. It has been a battle getting to and researching the elusive red planet. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, continues to lead NASA's exploration of Mars. In a pair of free lectures titled "The Odyssey to Mars," JPL's newly appointed Mars Odyssey project manager, Roger Gibbs, will discuss the challenges of Mars exploration. The first lecture will be held May 9 at JPL, and the second on May 10 at Pasadena City College. A Webcast of the lecture will be available at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 9.
What a year this has been for the Mars Odyssey team! The excitement of launch last April 7, the arrival at Mars, the long, sometimes tedious aerobraking concluded so successfully, the beginning of the mapping phase .... The detailed pictures the camera system is taking, letting scientists get closer and closer to Mars' mysteries .... The evidence from the gamma ray spectrometer showing more hydrogen in Mars' southern hemisphere than was known before .... The drama of the martian radiation environment experiment - as it turned out, the instrument was just taking a long nap ....
The search for water on the planet Mars and with it, possible forms of life, is one of the main tasks of the NASA space probe "Mars Odyssey 2001". And after its initial exploratory work, all the doubts have been removed, to the excitement of the scientific community. "There is a great deal of ice on Mars. The signals we're receiving are loud and clear," said jubilant planetary scientist William Boynton at the first press conference by the U.S. space agency NASA about the start of the probe's work.
Scientists are releasing a picture each weekday from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) captures the images as the craft orbits Mars. The photos are not yet fully calibrated for scientific use, and so no science findings are being discussed, said researchers who operate the camera from Arizona State University.
NASA officials this week released the first of what could be a daily flow of images of the Red Planet, snapped by a camera aboard the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
Mars is now open for daily sightseeing. Beginning March 27, recent images of Mars taken by the camera onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft will be available to the public on the Internet. A new, "uncalibrated" image taken by the visible light camera will be posted at 7 a.m. (Pacific) daily, Monday through Friday.
A group of small, unnamed craters in the martian southern hemisphere is the first site captured by a group of middle school students who are operating the camera system onboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft this week. The acquisition of the image marks the beginning of the Mars Student Imaging Project, a science education program funded by NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and operated by the Mars Education Program at Arizona State University, Tempe. The project gives thousands of fifth to 12th grade students the opportunity to do real-life planetary exploration and to study planetary geology using Odyssey’s visible-light camera.
Flight controllers for NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft report the martian radiation environment experiment began gathering science data today after their troubleshooting efforts successfully reestablished communications with the instrument. Engineers have been working since late February, trying a variety of techniques to communicate with the instrument, which stopped working in August. The results of their tests indicate the problem may be related to a memory error in the onboard software of the radiation instrument.
Scientists gathered at the 33rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference to review increasing amounts of data streaming out of NASA’s Mars Odyssey as it orbits the red planet are overjoyed now that a balky radiation experiment on the probe is back in operation. That hardware is built to yield environmental data for plotting future human expeditions to the planet. Just a few weeks into probing enigmatic Mars, Odyssey has also begun sensor sweeps of prospective touchdown spots for two Mars Exploration Rovers to be launched next year.
A new generation of Mars student scientists will release their first results at a press briefing scheduled for noon EST (10 a.m. Arizona Time) on Wednesday, March 20 at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. Eighteen students, including 11 sixth and seventh graders from Danvers, Illinois, and 7 high school students from Nogales, Arizona, will talk about their experiences and show their results as the first of thousands of participants in NASA's Mars Student Imaging Project. The project is a NASA-funded science education program that allows elementary, middle and high school classes to do real-life planetary exploration and study using NASA's Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) visible light camera.
Not that Michelle Kwan should join NASA, but it would appear that the surface of Mars has a lot more frozen water than previously thought. Initial data from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which began its mapping mission last week, include tentative identification of significant, but as yet unquantified, amounts of frozen water. Whether that means frozen puddles and ponds or ice crystals mixed into the top layer of soil remains to be seen. "We're actually detecting a deficit of neutrons emerging from the surface, and just about the only thing that can cause that is hydrogen atoms," Jeffrey Plaut, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's deputy project scientist for the Odyssey mission, told NewsFactor.
NASA's Odyssey spacecraft is putting Mars on the chart. Global mapping of the distant, dusty, and baffling world is underway, with first results from Mars Odyssey helping to sharpen future robotic exploration plans, and may hasten the day when human explorers reach out for the red planet. Early looks by the Mars orbiting craft suggest that high amounts of hydrogen exist below surface level in the south polar region of the planet. That hydrogen is likely in the form of water ice, scientists speculate. If so, that frozen layer could, quite literally, put life on ice - a cryo-preserved abode for Mars biology. Moreover, water ice found prevalent across Mars means that expeditionary crews of the 21st century would find a "user-friendly" world - a planet far easier to explore in a sustained and more expansive way.
Mission managers are ready to publicly share the first images and science results from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, which is currently in orbit around the red planet. A briefing is scheduled for 2 p.m. EST Friday, March 1, at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California.
Scientists today unveiled maps that detail the location of hydrogen, that may indicate water-ice, just below Mars' surface. The maps are based on data from a neutron spectrometer built at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory and flown aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey now in orbit around the Red planet. The data are supported by simultaneous measurements made using the Mars Odyssey's gamma-ray spectrometer.
Initial science data from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which began its mapping mission last week, portend some tantalizing findings by the newest Martian visitor, including possible identification of significant amounts of frozen water. "We are delighted with the quality of data we're seeing," said Dr. Steve Saunders, Odyssey project scientist at JPL. "We'll use it to build on what we've learned from Mars Global Surveyor and other missions. Now we may actually see water rather than guessing where it is or was. And with the thermal images we are able to examine surface geology from a new perspective." "These preliminary Odyssey observations are the 'tip of the iceberg' of the science results that are soon to come, so stay tuned," said Dr. Jim Garvin, lead scientist of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
The first ever night image of Mars was released by NASA today during a press conference that marked a promising new era of discovery at the Red Planet. While also announcing fresh evidence of water ice near the surface of Mars, scientists were surprised by the quality of Odyssey's new images and by what they're seeing on the surface of Mars. "We had no idea what to expect," said Phillip Christensen of Arizona State University. "We're startled by the diversity."
Let the Odyssey begin! That is the theme underscoring the excitement shared by scientists analyzing new data relayed from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft as it orbits the red planet. However, Mars Odyssey investigators remain tight-lipped about what the spacecraft is seeing, offering only subtle hints regarding the probe's scientific sleuthing. Early findings from NASA's Mars Odyssey are to be detailed Friday at a science briefing, held at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.
Mars Odyssey today is a step closer toward its mission of mapping the Red Planet. Odyssey is carrying the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), built under the direction of Professor William V. Boynton at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The GRS is a suite of three instruments: the Gamma Subsystem, built by the UA, the Neutron Spectrometer, built by Los Alamos National Laboratory and the High Energy Neutron Detector, built by the Space Research Institute, Moscow. Boynton and other Mars Odyssey scientists will detail their science objectives Friday, March 1, at a news conference to be telecast from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
A new Mars satellite turned on its scientific instruments this week, kicking off a mapping mission in search of hot spots and hidden water on the red planet. The Mars Odyssey flicked on its visible and infrared camera, and a spectrometer that can detect more than one dozen elements, including hydrogen, which could indicate the presence of frozen water underground, according to NASA.
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has begun its science mapping mission. The spacecraft turned its science instruments toward Mars on Monday, February 18. Flight controllers report that the thermal emission imaging system was turned on this morning. The camera system, which takes both visible and infrared images, will go through a period of calibration before the first science images are taken during the next few days. The first images will be released at a news conference on March 1.
NASA took the Mars Odyssey spacecraft for a test run Monday for five orbits' worth of science measurements. So far, results indicate hydrogen in the surface of the Martian southern hemisphere. Click for a larger graphic showing how a virtual shovel digs for elements on Mars. "It's beautiful," said William Feldman, a scientist with Los Alamos National Laboratory who operates the neutron spectrometer instrument on Odyssey. "Everything is very preliminary because we don't have enough to make a map yet." A full map of Mars' surface elements will take about a week.
NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, which recently settled into its proper orbit around Mars, has now deployed an antenna that is needed for high-speed data downloads to Earth. The high-gain communications antenna, as it is called, was unfurled at 10:29 ET Tuesday, Feb. 5. The act is on of the final steps required to get the probe ready to begin science missions. The antenna boom was deployed to its latched position with a motor-driven hinge and locked into place as expected, officials said Wednesday. The high-gain antenna is 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) in diameter, with a parabolic shape. The antenna can transmit at data rates as high as 110 thousand bits per second.
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft settled into its final orbit Wednesday and is now prepared to begin its science mission. The craft reached Mars Oct. 23 and engineers have been gradually refining its orbit from an elongated one that took the craft far from the Red Planet to a nearly circular one that is 249 miles (400-kilometers) above the planet. "We are now in our final mapping orbit and we don't expect to perform any additional maneuvers to change the orbit," said Bob Mase, Odyssey's lead navigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA’s Mars Odyssey is ready to start science duties as it circles the Red Planet. The spacecraft completed a set of aerobraking maneuvers January 11 following weeks of dipping in and out of Mars’ thin atmosphere in order to tighten its orbit around the planet. An upcoming and key event is deployment of Odyssey’s high-gain antenna. That equipment is crucial in relaying to Earth quantities of data to be gleaned by the spacecraft’s science instruments. The antenna is to be released and deployed with a motor-driven hinge. Release of the high-gain antenna is to occur after a final adjustment of Odyssey’s orbit takes place. That small adjustment is tagged an "orbit freeze" maneuver. This tweaking of Odyssey’s orbit is being done to avoid the remote chance it could smack into another orbiting spacecraft – the Mars Global Surveyor.
Last week, flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., breathed a collective sigh of relief. Although in 1999 they had lost the last two spacecraft that journeyed to Mars, their current mission to the Red Planet had completed a risky maneuver, using the friction of the Martian atmosphere to begin settling into its designated orbit 400 kilometers above the surface. Early next month, if all continues according to plan, the Mars Odyssey craft will begin a 2-year exploration of the composition of the Martian surface, hunt for near-surface deposits of water, and examine the planet's radiation background. Odyssey embarks on its mission at a time when questions about past and present conditions on the planet, including its water content and ability to harbor life, seem more puzzling than ever. "We're in state of maximal confusion," says planetary geologist David A. Paige of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Flight controllers for NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft sent commands overnight to raise the spacecraft up out of the atmosphere and conclude the aerobraking phase of the mission. At 12:18 a.m. Pacific time Jan. 11, Odyssey fired its small thrusters for 244 seconds, changing its speed by 20 meters per second (45 miles per hour) and raising its orbit by 85 kilometers (53 miles). The closest point in Odyssey's orbit, called the periapsis, is now 201 kilometers (125 miles) above the surface of Mars. The farthest point in the orbit, called the apoapsis, is at an altitude of 500 kilometers (311 miles). During the next few weeks, flight controllers will refine the orbit until the spacecraft reaches its final mapping altitude, a 400-kilometer (249-mile) circular orbit.
The Martian atmosphere is about to stop being such a drag on a Colorado-built spacecraft. By January 11th, controllers will stop dipping the 2001 Mars Odyssey into the Red Planet's dusty atmosphere -- a process called aerobraking that is used to slow a spacecraft and round out its orbit without using precious fuel. The 11 weeks of maneuvers have shortened Odyssey's lap time from 18 1/2 hours, when it went into Martian orbit on Oct. 23, to just under two hours.
One space station drops into the ocean and another rises in the sky. A probe lands on an asteroid while a second bids farewell from deep space. A tourist goes into orbit. A NASA chief calls it quits. These are just some of the big stories that came from the heavens in the year 2001, which witnessed a dramatic expansion in our scientific understanding and a sobering contraction in space funding.
Flight controllers of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey mission report that the aerobraking phase is proceeding right on schedule and should be completed in early January. During the aerobraking phase of the mission, the spacecraft is controlled so it skims the upper reaches of the martian atmosphere on each orbit, to reduce the vehicle's speed. Today, Odyssey's orbital period is three hours and 15 minutes, compared with the initial 18-and-a-half hours when the spacecraft first entered orbit in October. The orbital period is the time required to complete one revolution around the planet.
Three spacecraft, including one at Mars, teamed up to make a unique deep-space observation of a colossal energy burst. The Earth-orbiting satellite BeppoSAX, the solar-spying Ulysses, and NASA's Mars Odyssey combined to detect a brief yet intense gamma ray burst. The trio of observations was the first of its kind. With three observations, scientists can "triangulate" the location and distance of an object. The accuracy of the measurements becomes greater when the distance between the crafts grows.
If Santa Claus were a martian, he'd be in for one bumpy ride. That's the assessment of navigators and engineers controlling the flight of NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft as it currently flies four times daily above the north polar region of Mars. "If he were flying above the North Pole of Mars, my advice to Santa would be 'Hang tight onto your reins,'" said Odyssey navigator John C. Smith. "You could be in for a rough ride." In the midst of aerobraking maneuvers that are lowering the spacecraft's orbit around Mars, the Odyssey team has discovered an unexpected and somewhat unpredictable north polar atmospheric disturbance that is making the job a real adventure, Smith said.
The music on this web site was created by Vangelis, as art of a longer composition that he calls "Mythodea: Music for NASA's Mars Odyssey Mission." Mars Odyssey team members wanted to know more, so we asked Vangelis a few questions about his personal connection to Mars and music.
The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has uncovered preliminary yet tantalizing evidence for water near the surface of Mars and away from the permanently frozen north polar ice cap. Scientists already know there is water ice in the polar cap. But water ice near the surface in warmer regions of the planet would be a remarkable and long-sought finding that would have broad implications in the search for extraterrestrial life and for the possibility of human exploration of Mars.
The Mars Odyssey spacecraft has uncovered preliminary yet tantalizing evidence for water near the surface of Mars and away from the permanently frozen north polar ice cap. Scientists already know there is water ice in the polar cap. But water ice near the surface in warmer regions of the planet would be a remarkable and long-sought finding that would have broad implications in the search for extraterrestrial life and for the possibility of human exploration of Mars. The data, collected during tests of Odyssey's neutron spectrometer, show signs of hydrogen, which may or may not mean there is water. Hydrogen is one component of water but also exists alone and in other substances.
The Mars Odyssey (MO) spacecraft has made its first significant discovery: it has detected large deposits of hydrogen - possibly water - near the Red Planet's poles. American space agency (Nasa) scientists said they were excited by the initial indications of hydrogen deposits, describing the readings sent back as clearer, more definite and much earlier than had been expected.
As NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft neared completion Wednesday of its 100th orbit of the Red Planet, scientists had to contend with a surprisingly fickle Martian atmosphere in guiding and slowing the robotic probe. Odyssey entered orbit around Mars on Oct. 23. Since then, scientists have guided the spacecraft on a series of controlled skims through the atmosphere, using the drag provided by the carbon dioxide-rich shroud to slow the spacecraft and shape its orbit. From orbit to orbit, however, scientists have discovered wider than expected swings in the density of the Martian atmosphere as the probe passes over the planet at varying latitudes, longitudes and altitudes. The changes in density seen so far have been up to 100 percent and have been most dramatic over the north pole.
The Mars Odyssey (MO) spacecraft has made its first significant discovery: it has detected large deposits of hydrogen - possibly water - near the Red Planet's poles. Reporting MO's preliminary observations, scientists said the first pass by the probe's neutron spectrometer had revealed evidence of the element in soil at high latitudes. "It is big," Bill Feldman, of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said of the strength of the signal picked up by Odyssey. The results indicate large amounts of hydrogen on the surface, a likely sign of water-ice. The observations "are precisely what you would expect for a very hydrogen-rich environment", Feldman said.