NASA’s ‘2001 Mars Odyssey’ Marks Historic Milestone: Completes ’15 Years’ Orbiting The Red Planet

NASA’s longest-serving orbiter Mars Odyssey has completed 15 long years of continuous Martian research. The spacecraft, launched in 2001, has contributed monumental observations about the Martian surface, mapping hydrogen levels and exploring the Red Planet’s geological character as well as its radiation environment.

According David Lehman, Odyssey’s project manager, despite having concluded its original mission years ago, the Odyssey is capable of continuing its Martian probe for many more years.

“The spacecraft is remarkably healthy, and we have enough fuel to last for several more years,”

The Spacecraft commenced its long and challenging space voyage from Florida in April of 2001, prompting NASA to name the mission “2001 Mars Odyssey” as a tribute to Arthur C. Clarke’s best-seller 2001: A Space Odyssey after having obtained the latter’s personal endorsement. Odyssey arrived at Mars in October 2001, patrolling the red planet’s upper atmosphere for three months to adjust the size and shape of its orbit in preparation for a meticulous mapping of its terrain.

The space vessel went on to explore the red planet’s hugely inhospitable surface environment, measuring out its chemical make-up and paving the way for scientists to reveal massive quantities of water ice embedded underneath the surface. Mars Odyssey has also successfully recorded the radiation environment around the Martian orbit to identify radiation-triggered hazards for any forthcoming manned excursions to the planet.

NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey embodies some of the many intriguing facets of the space agency’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term undertaking of robotic surveying of the icy alien world. According to NASA, scientists were able to steadily attempt several flybys over the planet prior to securing its orbit for the spacecraft to undertake its designated mission. They then proceeded to examine the red planet’s changing cycle of seasons over a 15-year span, a period which corresponds to more than six Martian years. They were able to skilfully use these findings to predict the pattern of shifting Martian climate.

The Mars Odyssey mission has employed state-of-the-art technology through instruments equipped with spectrometers. Spectroscopy allows astronomers to study the comparative velocities of giant galaxies and collapsing stars. By probing the stellar spectrum, they can ascertain its chemical configuration as well as temperature. The composition of the Martian atmosphere is calculated by the highly sensitive mass spectrometer through molecular experimentation. The basic function of the spectrometer is to absorb light, convert it into its spectral elements, and ultimately project the results on a computer. By definition, spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation.

Observations made by the Odyssey have also enabled scientists to draw out a high-resolution map of the planet and study seasonal and fluctuating year-to-year patterns in relation to carbon dioxide. It has also served as a necessary conduit for communication between Martian rovers or other surface equipment and the Earth. According to NASA, more than 90 percent of the data received from its Spirit and Opportunity rovers has been transmitted through the Mars Odyssey. In light of the orbiter’s exceptional utilitarian merits, NASA could well be prompted to persist with the spacecraft for a duration longer than originally anticipated.

According to Odyssey Project Scientist Jeffrey Plaut, the adroit handling of the spacecraft during these crucial years by engineers remains particularly salient.

“In addition to the quality of this spacecraft, the careful way it is operated has been crucial to how it has stayed so productive so long. Odyssey was designed for a four-year mission. We’re in the 15th year, and it keeps doing everything we ask it to do.”

According to NASA, the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission’s phenomenal success has led to other accomplishments namely a complete planetary mapping of Mars both in daytime light and in night-time infra-red emissions.

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