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Credit: Mars Odyssey Project,
NASA
Explanation:
After an interplanetary
journey lasting 200 days, the Mars Odyssey spacecraft
has
entered orbit around the Red Planet.
This latest success is welcome as in the past, Mars has often seemed a
difficult planet to visit.
Beginning with the first
Soviet attempts in 1960, around 30 missions have
tried while only 10 or so have gone without serious mishap.
Now that
Mars Odyssey
has arrived, its immediate future will involve
aerobraking.
Cautiously dipping into the
martian atmosphere, the spacecraft will
gradually adjust its present wide and elliptical 25-hour
orbit to a circular 2-hour orbit only 400 kilometers above the
planet's surface.
Then, its instruments and
cameras will focus on exploring
the climate and geologic history
of Mars, including the
search for water
and evidence of life-sustaining
environments.
In the artist's conception above, the spacecraft with wing-like solar panels
is imagined firing its rocket engine for
Mars orbit insertion over terrain seen
in natural and false-color.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Mars - Mars Odyssey - spacecraft
Publications with words: Mars - Mars Odyssey - spacecraft
See also: