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Odyssey Successfully Enters Orbit Around Mars |
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Canadian Press |
| October 24, 2001 |
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NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft successfully entered orbit late Tuesday around the red planet, where the space agency suffered embarrassing back-to-back failures on its previous two missions. Engineers and scientists received the first indication shortly before 8 p.m. local time that an engine firing slowed the spacecraft and allowed Mars to capture it into orbit. Mission control erupted in cheers as officials exchanged hugs and handshakes after tense minutes of waiting. "How sweet it is," retiring NASA Administrator Dan Goldin said during a late night news conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "It embodies the true American spirit that we could win after being knocked down a few times." Odyssey project manager Matt Landano said initial data showed the orbit insertion burn was "excellent." The spacecraft will take until late January to settle into a final, circular mapping orbit 200 miles (400 kilometers) above the planet. "There's still a long ways to go. This was necessary though not sufficient to get the mission going," said Charles Whetsel, chief engineer of the Mars exploration program. "You've got to make it through this round before you get to play in the World Series. This is winning the pennant." Odyssey dove over Mars' north pole and dipped behind the planet after the burn began, leaving mission team members waiting anxiously. About 20 minutes later the probe reappeared and transmitted a signal to Earth across 80 million miles (149 million kilometers) of space. Scientists did not expect to know for up to three hours the exact orbital path the boxy spacecraft was traveling around Mars. The Mars Odyssey, which reached Mars after a six-month, 250-million-mile (460-million-kilometer) journey from Earth, is the first mission to the planet since two NASA failures in 1999. For the space agency, the project represented a shot at redemption. "It's great. It's wonderful. We're back at Mars," said Daniel McCleese, chief scientist of the JPL Mars program. "The orbit looks even better than the predictions. It's really good." A spacecraft's transition from interplanetary cruising to arrival has proved to be one of the most challenging phases in the exploration of Mars. In 1993, contact with NASA's Mars Observer was lost as the satellite neared Mars, probably after a fuel-system explosion. Six years later, a mix-up between imperial and metric units in calculating trajectory put the Climate Orbiter too close to Mars, causing it to burn up in the atmosphere. The Polar Lander vanished three months later, probably because a software error caused it to plunge to the surface. The back-to-back losses in 1999 underscored the difficulty of getting to Mars: Fewer than one-third of the 30 missions launched to the planet by the United States and other countries since 1960 have succeeded. The two botched missions also forced the space agency to scale back what had been an ambitious program to explore the planet. Originally, Odyssey was supposed to be joined by a spacecraft that would put a rover on the surface of Mars. But the lander was scrapped, leaving Odyssey to wend its way alone to Mars after its launch last April. To avoid another fiasco, NASA added staff, did extra checks on software and took precautions to prevent a repeat of the imperial-metric mix-up. Despite the recent failures, NASA has continued to explore Mars from orbit via the Global Surveyor, which arrived in 1997 and has transmitted thousands of highly detailed images of the Martian surface and dust storms in its atmosphere. Odyssey was equipped with two instruments to map the distribution of minerals and search for water across the dusty surface of Mars. Liquid water is considered a necessary element for life; finding reservoirs could help determine whether life ever existed on the Red Planet. A third instrument was designed to measure radiation on Mars and how that might endanger humans if they are ever sent to explore the planet. Odyssey—a box seven feet (2.1-metres) long, five feet (1.6 metres) tall and eight feet (2.5 metres) wide, with an 18-foot (5.6-metre) solar panel and antennas—was also designed to help pick landing sites for future missions, including twin rovers NASA intends to launch in 2003. Copyright 2001 The Canadian Press National Geographic Space Resources Recent News Stories Total Eclipse May Help Solve Mystery of Sun's "Halo" Spacecraft to Touch Down on Asteroid Mission to Mars: A Journey of Magellanic Proportions India Sets Its Sites on the Moon Books on Space Other Worlds—The Solar System and Beyond Space Odyssey—Voyaging Through the Cosmos Mars—Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet Book for Children: Exploring Space Interactive Space Features Virtual Solar System Star Trekkers: Teenagers on a Simulated Mission at U.S. Space Camp Video National Geographic EXPLORER: Destination Space Resources for Teachers Related Lesson Plan: Use this National Geographic News article in your classroom with the Xpeditions lesson plan: The Sun and The Earth National Geographic Channel National Geographic Today, 7 p.m. ET/PT in the United States, is a daily news magazine that features regular updates on space stories. Click here to request the National Geographic Channel. |
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