October 24, 2001. Copyright 2001. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Mars Odyssey mission arrives at Red Planet

LONDON, October 24, Graphic News: NASAÕs Mars Odyssey spacecraft slipped into orbit around the Red Planet late Tuesday, after a six-month, 286 million-mile (460 million-kilometre) journey from Earth.

ÒHow sweet it is,Ó retiring NASA Administrator Dan Goldin said during a late night news conference at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. ÒIt embodies the true American spirit that we could win after being knocked down a few times.Ó

Chastened by two spectacular failures, Goldin hopes the Mars Odyssey, which will search for water, measure radiation and map the planet for minerals, represents a shot at redemption.

NASA scientists erupted into cheers as the Odyssey reestablished contact with Earth, about 30 minutes after the spacecraft began its orbital burn at 7:26 p.m. PDT (10:26 p.m. EDT/0226 GMT Wednesday). The spacecraftÕs transition from interplanetary cruising to a successful orbit burn was the moment when the $300 million mission was at greatest risk of failure.

In 1993, contact with NASAÕs Mars Observer was lost as the satellite neared Mars, probably after a fuel-system explosion. Six years later, a mix-up between English (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 due to a software error which 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 Odyssey, named in honour of the book and movie Ò2001: A Space Odyssey,Ó is expected to begin its primary mission in January. The craft carries a suite of scientific instruments including a thermal emission imaging system, a gamma ray spectrometer and an experiment to check the Martian radiation environment.

The main structure of the craft is about the size of a mini car, but its solar panels have a wingspan of about 19 ft (5.8m). It weighs about 1,600 lb (725kg) and will travel 286 million miles (460 million km) to get to Mars, arriving in October.

The thermal imaging system will look for hot spots on the planet where gas or water might be escaping, Ed Weiler, head of NASAÕs office of space science, said at a news briefing. He dubbed these possible features as ÒMartian Yellowstones,Ó after the geysers in the U.S. national park of that name.

The gamma ray spectrometer will seek to determine the mineral composition of the upper layer of the Martian surface, down to perhaps a depth of 3 ft (1m).

The radiation experiment is meant to check the dangers to possible human explorers, although no human mission to Mars is even in the early planning stages at NASA, Weiler said.

ÒBefore we can even contemplate human missions to Mars, we really have to understand Mars as a planet,Ó he added. ÒWe have to understand what the radiation environment is and if there is water.Ó

The Odyssey is the first of six planned missions to Mars. A pair of rovers that will land on the planet is set for launch in 2003 and a scientific orbiter will be launched in 2005.
/ENDS
Sources: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Reuters, Associated Press