Next Mars Odyssey Moves A Step Closer With Arrival At KSC

MARSDAILY

The Mars Odyssey 2001 Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001. It will arrive at Mars on Oct. 20, 2001, if launched on schedule. After a propulsive maneuver into a 25-hour capture orbit, aerobraking will be used over the next 76 days to achieve the 2-hour science orbit. Aerobraking was utilized on the Mars Global Surveyor mission. The Orbiter will carry 3 science instruments, the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). THEMIS will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high-resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. The GRS will achieve global mapping of the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface. The GRS is a rebuild of the instrument lost with the Mars Observer mission. The MARIE will characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment as related to the radiation-related risk to human explorers.

KSC - Jan. 5, 2001
The first major step toward NASA's return of a spacecraft to an orbit around Mars was achieved late Thursday night, Jan. 4, when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The spacecraft was shipped aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo airplane from Denver, Colo., location of the Lockheed Martin plant where the spacecraft was built. The project is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Mars Odyssey was moved on a transport trailer from the Shuttle Landing Facility to the Kennedy Space Center's Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2, where it will undergo final assembly and checkout. This includes installation of two of the three science instruments, integration of the three-panel solar array, and a spacecraft functional test. It will be fueled and then mated to an upper stage booster, the final activities before going to the launch pad.

Launch is planned for April 7, the first day of a 21-day launch opportunity. Mars Odyssey will be inserted into an interplanetary trajectory by a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle from Pad A at Complex 17. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars on Oct. 20, 2001, for insertion into an initial elliptical capture orbit. Its final operational altitude at Mars will be a 400 kilometer-high (250 mile-) Sun-synchronous polar orbit. Mars Odyssey will conduct a two-year mission in Mars orbit mapping the planet's surface and measuring its environment.

"Ultimately, the spacecraft could contribute significantly toward understanding what may be necessary for a more sophisticated exploration of Mars, and perhaps an eventual human visit," said Mars Odyssey Project Manger George Pace of JPL.

MARSDAILY

Europe Set To Bring New Eyes And Hands To Mars Exploration

Paris - Nov 22, 2000
Starting with Mars Express and Beagle 2 and ending with a possible Sample Return Mission, Europe will be making a major contribution to Mars exploration over the next two decades. Europe's plans complement the new programme recently announced by NASA in the wake of last year's mission losses.

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