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Robotic Spacecraft (Astronomy, Planetary, Earth, Solar/Heliophysics) => Space Science Coverage => Topic started by: jacqmans on 03/20/2008 09:24 pm
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RELEASE: 08-084
NASA MISSION FINDS NEW CLUES TO GUIDE THE SEARCH FOR LIFE ON MARS
WASHINGTON - NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has found evidence of salt
deposits. These deposits point to places where water once was
abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from
the Red Planet's past.
A team led by Mikki Osterloo of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu,
found approximately 200 places on southern Mars that show spectral
characteristics consistent with chloride minerals. Chloride is part
of many types of salt, such as sodium chloride or table salt. The
sites range from about half of a square mile to 25 times that size.
"They could come from groundwater reaching the surface in low spots,"
Osterloo said. "The water would evaporate and leave mineral deposits,
which build up over years. The sites are disconnected, so they are
unlikely to be the remnants of a global ocean."
Scientists used Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System, a camera
designed and operated by Arizona State University, Tempe, to take
images in a range of visible light and infrared wavelengths.
Thermal infrared wavelengths are useful for identifying different
mineral and rock types on the Martian surface. Osterloo found the
sites by looking through thousands of images processed to reveal, in
false colors, compositional differences on the Martian surface.
Plotted on a Mars map, the chloride sites appear only in the southern
highlands, the most ancient rocks on Mars. Osterloo and seven
co-authors report the findings in this week's issue of the journal
Science.
"Many of the deposits lie in basins with channels leading into them,"
said Philip Christensen, co-author and principal investigator for the
camera at Arizona State University. "This is the kind of feature,
like salt-pan deposits on Earth, that's consistent with water flowing
in over a long time."
Scientists think the salt deposits formed approximately 3.5 to 3.9
billion years ago. Several lines of evidence suggest Mars then had
intermittent periods with substantially wetter and warmer conditions
than today's dry, frigid climate.
Scientists looking for evidence of past life on Mars have focused
mainly on a handful of places that show evidence of clay or sulfate
minerals. Clays indicate weathering by water, and sulfates may have
formed by water evaporation. The new research, however, suggests an
alternative mineral target to explore for biological remains.
"By their nature, salt deposits point to a lot of water, which
potentially could remain standing in pools as it evaporates." said
Christensen. "That's crucial. For life, it's all about a habitat that
endures for some time."
Whether life ever has existed on Mars is the biggest scientific
question driving Mars research. On Earth, salt is good at preserving
organic material. Bacteria have been revived in the laboratory after
being preserved in salt deposits for millions of years.
"This discovery demonstrates the continuing value of the Odyssey
science mission, now entering its seventh year. The more we look at
Mars, the more fascinating a place it becomes," said Jeffrey Plaut,
Odyssey project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif.
"This is a wonderful and scientifically exciting result obtained from
a relatively low cost NASA Mars orbiter mission which still has years
of life left.," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "Hold on to your hats,
more exciting results from Mars are sure to be coming."
For additional information about Odyssey, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/odyssey
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NEWS RELEASE: 2008-191 October 9, 2008
NASA's Mars Odyssey Shifting Orbit for Extended Mission
PASADENA, Calif. -- The longest-serving of six spacecraft now studying Mars is up to new tricks for a third two-year extension of its mission to examine the most Earthlike of known foreign planets.
NASA's Mars Odyssey is altering its orbit to gain even better sensitivity for its infrared mapping of Martian minerals. During the mission extension through September 2010, it will also point its camera with more flexibility than it has ever used before. Odyssey reached Mars in 2001.
The orbit adjustment will allow Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System to look down at sites when it's mid-afternoon, rather than late afternoon. The multipurpose camera will take advantage of the infrared radiation emitted by the warmer rocks to provide clues to the rocks' identities.
"This will allow us to do much more sensitive detection and mapping of minerals," said Odyssey Project Scientist Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
The mission's orbit design before now used a compromise between what works best for the Thermal Emission Imaging System and what works best for another instrument, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer.
On commands from its operations team at JPL and at Denver-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Odyssey fired thrusters for nearly 6 minutes on Sept. 30, the final day of the mission's second two-year extension.
"This was our biggest maneuver since 2002, and it went well," said JPL's Gaylon McSmith, Odyssey mission manager. "The spacecraft is in good health. The propellant supply is adequate for operating through at least 2015."
Odyssey's orbit is synchronized with the sun. The local solar time has been about 5 p.m. at whatever spot on Mars Odyssey flew over as it made its dozen daily passes from between the north pole region to the south pole region for the past five years. (Likewise, the local time has been about 5 a.m. under the track of the spacecraft during the south-to-north leg of each orbit.)
The push imparted by the Sept. 30 maneuver will gradually change that synchronization over the next year or so. Its effect is that the time of day on the ground when Odyssey is overhead is now getting earlier by about 20 seconds per day. A follow-up maneuver, probably in late 2009 when the overpass time is between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m., will end the progression toward earlier times.
While aiding performance of the Thermal Emission Imaging System, the shift to mid-afternoon is expected to stop the use of one of three instruments in Odyssey's Gamma Ray Spectrometer suite. The suite's gamma ray detector needs a later-hour orbit to avoid overheating of a critical component. The suite's neutron spectrometer and high-energy neutron detector are expected to keep operating.
The Gamma Ray Spectrometer provided dramatic discoveries of water-ice near the surface throughout much of high-latitude Mars, the impetus for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander mission. The gamma ray detector has also mapped global distribution of many elements, such as iron, silicon and potassium, a high science priority for the first and second extensions of the Odyssey mission. A panel of planetary scientists assembled by NASA recommended this year that Odyssey make the orbit adjustment to get the best science return from the mission in coming years.
Increased sensitivity for identifying surface minerals is a key science goal for the mission extension beginning this month. Also, the Odyssey team plans to begin occasionally aiming the camera away from the straight-down pointing that has been used throughout the mission. This will allow the team to fill in some gaps in earlier mapping and also create some stereo, three-dimensional imaging.
Odyssey will continue providing crucial support for Mars surface missions as well as conducting its own investigations. It has relayed to Earth nearly all data returned from NASA rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It shares with NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter the relay role for Phoenix. It has made targeted observations for evaluating candidate landing sites.
Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. Investigators at Arizona State University, Tempe, operate the Thermal Emission Imaging System. Investigators at the University of Arizona, Tucson, head operation of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer. Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and at Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer.
For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey .
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March 11, 2009
Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report
Spacecraft Reboots Successfully
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter properly followed commands today to shut down and restart, a strategy by its engineers to clear any memory flaws accumulated in more than five years since Odyssey's last reboot.
The procedure also restored Odyssey's onboard set of backup systems, called the spacecraft's "B side," allowing its use in the future when necessary.
"For nearly two years, we have not known for certain whether the backup systems would be usable, so this successful reboot has allowed us to ascertain their health and availability for future use," said Odyssey Project Manager Philip Varghese of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Odyssey has been orbiting Mars since 2001 and has never switched from its primary set of components, the "A side," to the backup set, which includes an identical computer processor, navigation sensors, relay radio and other components. In March 2006, the B-side spare of a component for managing the distribution of power became inoperable. Analysis by engineers identified a possibility that rebooting Odyssey might restore that component, which proved to be a side benefit of today's procedure to refresh onboard memory.
The Odyssey team began a series of steps after the reboot to carefully return the spacecraft to full functioning over the next few days. Following that path, the science instruments will be back to studying Mars by next week.
An unexpected rise in temperature of the star camera in Odyssey's navigation system on March 9 had prompted a postponement of the rebooting originally scheduled for the next day. Engineers identified the cause as a heater circuit that was temporarily stuck "on." The circuit was turned off before today's reboot.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Odyssey for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. Additional information about Odyssey is at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/odyssey .
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NASA's Mars Odyssey Alters Orbit to Study Warmer Ground
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's long-lived Mars Odyssey spacecraft has completed an eight-month adjustment of its orbit, positioning itself to look down at the day side of the planet in mid-afternoon instead of late afternoon.
This change gains sensitivity for infrared mapping of Martian minerals by the orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System camera. Orbit design for Odyssey's first seven years of observing Mars used a compromise between what worked best for the infrared mapping and for another onboard instrument.
"The orbiter is now overhead at about 3:45 in the afternoon instead of 5 p.m., so the ground is warmer and there is more thermal energy for the camera's infrared sensors to detect," said Jeffrey Plaut of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project scientist for Mars Odyssey.
Some important mineral discoveries by Odyssey stem from mapping done during six months early in the mission when the orbit geometry provided mid-afternoon overpasses. One key example: finding salt deposits apparently left behind when large bodies of water evaporated.
"The new orbit means we can now get the type of high-quality data for the rest of Mars that we got for 10 or 20 percent of the planet during those early six months," said Philip Christensen of Arizona State University, Tempe, principal investigator for the Thermal Emission Imaging System.
Here's the trade-off: The orbital shift to mid-afternoon will stop the use of one of three instruments in Odyssey's Gamma Ray Spectrometer suite. The new orientation will soon result in overheating a critical component of the suite's gamma ray detector. The suite's neutron spectrometer and high-energy neutron detector are expected to keep operating. The Gamma Ray Spectrometer provided a dramatic 2002 discovery of water-ice near the Martian surface in large areas. The gamma ray detector has also mapped global distribution of many elements, such as iron, silicon and potassium.
Last year, before the start of a third two-year extension of the Odyssey mission, a panel of planetary scientists assembled by NASA recommended the orbit adjustment to maximize science benefits from the spacecraft in coming years.
Odyssey's orbit is synchronized with the sun. Picture Mars rotating beneath the polar-orbiting spacecraft with the sun off to one side. The orbiter passes from near the north pole to near the south pole over the day-lit side of Mars. At each point on the Mars surface that turns beneath Odyssey, the solar time of day when the southbound spacecraft passes over is the same. During the five years prior to October 2008, that local solar time was about 5 p.m. whenever Odyssey was overhead. (Likewise, the local time was about 5 a.m. under the track of the spacecraft during the south-to-north leg of each orbit, on the night side of Mars.)
On Sept. 30, 2008, Odyssey fired thrusters for six minutes, putting the orbiter into a "drift" pattern of gradually changing the time-of-day of its overpasses during the next several months. On June 9, Odyssey's operations team at JPL and at Denver-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems commanded the spacecraft to fire the thrusters again. This five-and-a-half-minute burn ended the drift pattern and locked the spacecraft into the mid-afternoon overpass time.
"The maneuver went exactly as planned," said JPL's Gaylon McSmith, Odyssey mission manager.
In another operational change motivated by science benefits, Odyssey has begun in recent weeks making observations other then straight downward-looking. This more-flexible targeting allows imaging of some latitudes near the poles that are never directly underneath the orbiter, and allows faster filling-in of gaps not covered by previous imaging.
"We are using the spacecraft in a new way," McSmith said.
In addition to extending its own scientific investigations, the Odyssey mission continues to serve as the radio relay for almost all data from NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Odyssey's new orbital geometry helps prepare the mission to be a relay asset for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, scheduled to put the rover Curiosity on Mars in 2012.
Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project. Investigators at Arizona State University operate the Thermal Emission Imaging System. Investigators at the University of Arizona, Tucson, head operation of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer. Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and at Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer.
For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey .
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RELEASE: 10-176
NASA SPACECRAFT CAMERA YIELDS MOST ACCURATE MARS MAP EVER
WASHINGTON -- A camera aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has
helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever. Researchers
and the public can access the map via several websites and explore
and survey the entire surface of the Red Planet.
The map was constructed using nearly 21,000 images from the Thermal
Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS, a multi-band infrared camera on
Odyssey. Researchers at Arizona State University's Mars Space Flight
Facility in Tempe, in collaboration with NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., have been compiling the map
since THEMIS observations began eight years ago.
The pictures have been smoothed, matched, blended and cartographically
controlled to make a giant mosaic. Users can pan around images and
zoom into them. At full zoom, the smallest surface details are 330
feet wide. While portions of Mars have been mapped at higher
resolution, this map provides the most accurate view so far of the
entire planet.
The new map is available at:
http://www.mars.asu.edu/maps/?layer=thm_dayir_100m_v11
Advanced users with large bandwidth, powerful computers and software
capable of handling images in the gigabyte range can download the
full-resolution map in sections at:
http://www.mars.asu.edu/data/thm_dir_100m
"We've tied the images to the cartographic control grid provided by
the U.S. Geological Survey, which also modeled the THEMIS camera's
optics," said Philip Christensen, principal investigator for THEMIS
and director of the Mars Space Flight Facility. "This approach lets
us remove all instrument distortion, so features on the ground are
correctly located to within a few pixels and provide the best global
map of Mars to date."
Working with THEMIS images from the new map, the public can contribute
to Mars exploration by aligning the images to within a pixel's
accuracy at NASA's "Be A Martian" website, which was developed in
cooperation with Microsoft Corp. Users can visit the site at:
http://beamartian.jpl.nasa.gov/maproom#/MapMars
"The Mars Odyssey THEMIS team has assembled a spectacular product that
will be the base map for Mars researchers for many years to come,"
said Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey project scientist at JPL. "The map lays
the framework for global studies of properties such as the mineral
composition and physical nature of the surface materials."
Other sites build upon the base map. At Mars Image Explorer, which
includes images from every Mars orbital mission since the mid-1970s,
users can search for images using a map of Mars at:
http://themis.asu.edu/maps
"The broad purpose underlying all these sites is to make Mars
exploration easy and engaging for everyone," Christensen said. "We
are trying to create a user-friendly interface between the public and
NASA's Planetary Data System, which does a terrific job of
collecting, validating and archiving data."
Mars Odyssey was launched in April 2001 and reached the Red Planet in
October 2001. Science operations began in February 2002. The mission
is managed by JPL, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver is the prime
contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. NASA's Planetary
Data System, sponsored by the Science Mission Directorate, archives
and distributes scientific data from the agency's planetary missions,
astronomical observations, and laboratory measurements.
For more information about NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, visit:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey
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Long-Lived Mars Odyssey Gets New Project Manager.
The new project manager for the longest-working spacecraft currently active at Mars, NASA's Mars Odyssey, has a long track record himself.
He is Gaylon McSmith, a former pilot of U.S. Air Force fighter jets and Continental Airlines airliners. At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., he has been a leader on the Odyssey team since two months after the spacecraft began orbiting Mars in October 2001.
On Dec. 15 of this year, Odyssey will break the record for the longest-working spacecraft ever at Mars, surpassing the mark set by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, which operated in orbit from 1997 to 2006. Odyssey completed its prime mission in 2004 and has operated on an extended-mission basis since then.
"The spacecraft continues to be a very reliable platform that conducts its own science investigations, plus important support for other Mars missions," McSmith said. "It's a great honor for me to work with the Odyssey team."
Odyssey's science instruments have discovered vast supplies of frozen water just beneath the surface; run a radiation-safety check for future astronauts; and mapped surface textures, minerals and elements all over Mars. Its camera has provided the highest-resolution map of the entire planet.
Observations by Odyssey have contributed to selection and analysis of landing sites for four Mars surface missions. Thousands of students have participated in a groundbreaking educational program enabling them to select Odyssey imaging targets on Mars and conduct real scientific investigations.
In addition to its own science, Odyssey has relayed to Earth nearly all of the data provided by NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. It provided relay service for the Phoenix Mars Lander and will be in position to do so for the Mars Science Laboratory mission during and after the 2012 landing of the mission's rover, Curiosity.
Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System, Neutron Spectrometer and High Energy Neutron Detector continue examining Mars.
McSmith joined the Odyssey team as manager of the mission's science office in 2001. He served as mission manager from 2008 until this month, when he succeeded Phil Varghese as project manager. Varghese had become project manager for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
McSmith, who now has a home in Pasadena, grew up in the Eagle Rock district of Los Angeles, a few miles from JPL. He graduated from California State University, Fresno, in 1970, with a degree in computer sciences. After service with the U.S. Air Force and eight years as an airline pilot, he came to work at JPL on an aviation weather project supported by the Federal Aviation Administration. Subsequently he worked on the Deep Space 1 mission to comet Borrelly and the Galileo mission to Jupiter.
Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project. Investigators at Arizona State University, Tempe, operate the Thermal Emission Imaging System. Investigators at the University of Arizona, Tucson, head operation of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer suite of instruments. Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and at Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer.
For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey.
www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-338
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Camera On NASA Mars Odyssey Tops Decade Of Discovery
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1209
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Orbiter Puts Itself into Standby Safe Mode
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-166
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Orbiter Puts Itself into Standby Safe Mode
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-166
Thank goodness there's a spare reaction wheel (if it's needed).
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Test of Spare Wheel Puts Orbiter on Path to Recovery
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-176
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Orbiter Out of Precautionary 'Safe Mode'
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-181
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I'm not exactly sure, but I think the suspect wheel would only be available to replace the spare in case of total failure, since the spare was the only one angled to be able to take the place of all the rest.
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Longest-Lived Mars Orbiter is Back in Service
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-189
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Orbiter Enters, Then Exits, Standby Safe Mode
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-203
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News Release: 2013-140 April 17, 2013
NASA Mars Orbiters Have New Project Managers
The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-140&cid=release_2013-140
PASADENA, Calif. -- Two NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars, both working long past their original prime missions, have new project managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Dan Johnston is the new project manager for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and David Lehman is now project manager for NASA's Mars Odyssey.
Johnston has worked on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission from its inception in 2000, through launch in 2005 and during operations in Mars orbit since 2006. He was the mission's design manager during development. Later roles have included mission manager and, since 2010, deputy project manager.
Johnston, a Louisiana native, earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, worked in private-industry support of NASA space shuttle mission operations, and joined JPL in 1989. He lives in La Crescenta, Calif.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned more data than all other Mars missions combined, observing Mars' surface, subsurface and atmosphere in unprecedented detail and radically expanding our knowledge of the Red Planet.
"The project's major challenge is to balance the science that the mission is continuing with the needs for serving as a communication relay for rovers," Johnston said. "Keeping the orbiter in service is our number-one priority."
Lehman managed NASA's twin-spacecraft Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) Project from its inception in 2006 through the 2012 completion of its work orbiting Earth's moon.
Lehman's career has taken him from undersea to deep space. Before joining JPL in 1980, he was a U.S. Navy submarine officer. At JPL, his accomplishments have included managing NASA's Deep Space 1 Project, which tested 12 innovative technologies, such as ion propulsion and autonomous navigation, on its way to an asteroid flyby. Lehman holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from Colorado State University, Fort Collins. The New Mexico native now lives in Pasadena, Calif.
Mars Odyssey has been orbiting the Red Planet since 2001, began systematic science observations there in early 2002, and broke the previous record for longest-working Mars spacecraft in December 2010. The mission's longevity enables continued science, including the monitoring of seasonal changes on Mars from year to year, in addition to communication-relay service for Mars rovers.
Lehman said, "Odyssey is a major asset for NASA's Mars Program both for its science and as a relay. There is a lot of work being done by a lean team to keep it running smoothly."
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built both orbiters and partners with JPL in spacecraft operations for both missions.
For more information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mro . For more about Mars Odyssey, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey .
Jia-Rui Cook/Guy Webster 818-354-0850/354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
[email protected] / [email protected]
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Listening to MEPAG meeting.
Odyssey has 4 kg of fuel left. Uses 1 kg per year. They have enough to make it through their approved extended mission, although I don't know when that officially ends.
Launched April 7, 2001.
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Engineers Keep an Eye on Fuel Supply of NASA’s Oldest Mars Orbiter
March 15, 2023
Measuring the fuel supply on Odyssey, a decades-old spacecraft without a fuel gauge, is no easy task.
Since NASA launched the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter to the Red Planet almost 22 years ago, the spacecraft has looped around Mars more than 94,000 times. That’s about the equivalent of 1.37 billion miles (2.21 billion kilometers), a distance that has required extremely careful management of the spacecraft’s fuel supply. This feat is all the more impressive given that Odyssey has no fuel gauge; engineers have had to rely on math instead.
be running on empty in less than a year. Either the spacecraft had experienced some kind of failure, like a leak, or something was off in the team’s measurements.
Months of testing and intense investigation ensued. After studying the mystery of the “missing” fuel, mission engineers have learned new things about how the aging spacecraft’s complex fuel system behaves in flight. Their conclusion: The orbiter should actually have enough to last at least through the end of 2025.
How Odyssey Uses Hydrazine
Odyssey doesn’t need a lot of hydrazine to get by on any given day. Solar panels power its systems, while three strategically placed reaction wheels help the orbiter point its science instruments at the Martian surface. As the reaction wheels spin inside the spacecraft bus, or body, they create torque that causes Odyssey to move in the opposite direction.
“These reaction wheels have to work together to maintain the spacecraft’s pointing,” said Odyssey’s mission manager, Jared Call of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “But with Odyssey completing a full loop every orbit, you need a way to unload the increasing momentum.”
That’s where Odyssey’s hydrazine comes in. The spacecraft’s thrusters release this propellant in small, calculated bursts to counter the reaction wheels’ building momentum.
Teamwork
So when the team’s calculations showed that their propellant supply was lower than expected, engineers at JPL got to work with those at Lockheed Martin Space, which built Odyssey, maintains mission operations, and provides spacecraft engineering support.
“First, we had to verify the spacecraft was OK,” said Joseph Hunt, Odyssey’s project manager at JPL. “After ruling out the possibility of a leak or that we were burning more fuel than estimated, we started looking at our measuring process.”
The team agreed that they needed some fresh eyes to assess the situation. They brought in Boris Yendler, an outside consultant who also specializes in spacecraft propellant estimation.
Like all spacecraft, Odyssey relies on heaters to keep various parts, including the fuel tanks, working in the cold of space. Yendler wondered whether heat was being added to the propellant from some other source on the spacecraft, complicating the fuel measurement. After lots of experimentation, the team confirmed that was the case: Heaters along a fuel line connecting the tanks were warming them faster than expected, making it seem as if the tanks were nearly empty.
“Our method of measurement was fine. The problem was that the fluid dynamics occurring on board Odyssey are more complicated than we thought,” Call said.
After figuring out how much heat wasn’t being accounted for in their calculations, the team concluded that Odyssey has about 9 pounds (4 kilograms) of hydrazine left. It’s enough to last the mission for a few more years. Although the number could change as the team works to refine the measurements and improve their accuracy, the team is resting easier now that they better understand their spacecraft.
“It’s a little like our process for scientific discovery,” Call said. “You explore an engineering system not knowing what you’ll find. And the longer you look, the more you find that you didn’t expect.”
News Media Contact
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
[email protected]
Karen Fox / Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
301-286-6284 / 202-358-1501
[email protected] / [email protected]
NASA JPL 2023-036
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/engineers-keep-an-eye-on-fuel-supply-of-nasas-oldest-mars-orbiter
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https://twitter.com/nasajpl/status/1729660498638160160
What would it look like to orbit Mars in the @Space_Station?
The Odyssey spacecraft, which orbits the Red Planet at the same altitude as the ISS orbits Earth, completed an innovative maneuver to capture this stunning view.
🔗 What it tells us:
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-orbiter-snaps-stunning-views-of-mars-horizon
NASA Orbiter Snaps Stunning Views of Mars Horizon
Nov. 28, 2023
The Odyssey orbiter captured clouds and dust in the Red Planet’s skies, along with one of its two tiny moons.
Astronauts often react with awe when they see the curvature of the Earth below the International Space Station. Now Mars scientists are getting a taste of what that’s like, thanks to NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, which completed its 22nd year at the Red Planet last month.
The spacecraft captured a series of panoramic images that showcases the curving Martian landscape below gauzy layers of clouds and dust. Stitched end to end, the 10 images offer not only a fresh, and stunning, view of Mars, but also one that will help scientists gain new insights into the Martian atmosphere.
The spacecraft took the images in May from an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers) – the same altitude at which the space station flies above Earth.
“If there were astronauts in orbit over Mars, this is the perspective they would have,” said Jonathon Hill of Arizona State University, operations lead for Odyssey’s camera, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS. “No Mars spacecraft has ever had this kind of view before.”
How It Was Done
The reason why the view is so uncommon is because of the challenges involved in creating it. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission, and Lockheed Martin Space, which built Odyssey and co-leads day-to-day operations, spent three months planning the THEMIS observations. The infrared camera’s sensitivity to warmth enables it to map ice, rock, sand, and dust, along with temperature changes, on the planet’s surface.
It can also measure how much water ice or dust is in the atmosphere, but only in a narrow column directly below the spacecraft. That’s because THEMIS is fixed in place on the orbiter; it usually points straight down.
The mission wanted a more expansive view of the atmosphere. Seeing where those layers of water-ice clouds and dust are in relation to each other – whether there’s one layer or several stacked on top of each other – helps scientists improve models of Mars’ atmosphere.
“I think of it as viewing a cross-section, a slice through the atmosphere,” said Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey’s project scientist at JPL. “There’s a lot of detail you can’t see from above, which is how THEMIS normally makes these measurements.
Odyssey views phobos
Because THEMIS can’t pivot, adjusting the angle of the camera requires adjusting the position of the whole spacecraft. In this case, the team needed to rotate the orbiter almost 90 degrees while making sure the Sun would still shine on the spacecraft’s solar panels but not on sensitive equipment that could overheat. The easiest orientation turned out to be one where the orbiter’s antenna pointed away from Earth. That meant the team was out of communication with Odyssey for several hours until the operation was complete.
The Odyssey mission hopes to take similar images in the future, capturing the Martian atmosphere across multiple seasons.
Over the Moon
To make the most of their effort, the mission also captured imagery of Mars’ little moon Phobos. This marks the seventh time in 22 years that the orbiter has pointed THEMIS at the moon in order to measure temperature variations across its surface.
“We got a different angle and lighting conditions of Phobos than we’re used to,” Hill said. “That makes it a unique part of our Phobos dataset.”
The new imagery provides insight into the composition and physical properties of the moon. Further study could help settle a debate over whether Phobos, which measures about 16 miles (25 kilometers) across, is a captured asteroid or an ancient chunk of Mars that was blasted off the surface by an impact.
NASA is participating with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) in a sample return mission to Phobos and its sister moon, Deimos, called Mars Moon eXplorer, or MMX. Odyssey’s Phobos imagery will be helpful to scientists working on both Odyssey as well as MMX.
More About the Mission
THEMIS was built and is operated by Arizona State University in Tempe. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena.
For more information about Odyssey:
https://mars.nasa.gov/odyssey/
Image captions:
This unusual view of the horizon of Mars was captured by NASA’s Odyssey orbiter using its THEMIS camera, in an operation that took engineers three months to plan. It’s taken from about 250 miles above the Martian surface – about the same altitude at which the International Space Station orbits Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter used its THEMIS camera to capture this series of images of Phobos, one of the Red Planet’s two tiny moons. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
https://youtu.be/gm_g93wNj_8
Laura Kerber, deputy project scientist for NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, explains how and why the spacecraft captured a view of the Red Planet similar to the International Space Station’s view of Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech