The launch of NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey is scheduled for Saturday, April 7, at 11:02 a.m. EDT. Liftoff will occur aboard a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle from Pad A at Space Launch Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. A second launch opportunity exists thirty minutes later at 11:32 a.m., if necessary. Should launch be delayed by 24 hours, the two launch times available on Sunday are 10:29 a.m. and 11:29 a.m. EDT. The planetary launch window extends through April 27.
March 27th, 2001
Experience the Launch of 2001 Mars Odyssey at Kennedy Space Center
On April 7, a day becomes an odyssey — a Mars odyssey — at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Guests can purchase a Launch Transportation Ticket to view the launch of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter aboard a Delta II rocket and witness the beginning of a voyage to another planet. Launch Transportation Tickets provide visitors with the opportunity of a lifetime-to view the launch from otherwise-restricted NASA property. Visitors can order tickets by calling 321-449-4444 or by logging on to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex’s Web site at http://www.KennedySpaceCenter.com.
March 19th, 2001
2001 Mars Odyssey to Map Minerals, Check Radiation
NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, set for launch on April 7, aims to find out what Earth’s planetary neighbor is made of and evaluate radiation that could be risky to humans, space agency officials said on Monday. Admittedly snake-bit by earlier failed missions, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has spent about $12 million on additional reviews to cut down on the possibility of failure. The total cost of the unmanned orbital mission is $297 million.
March 19th, 2001
2001 Mars Odyssey
When NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey launches in April to explore the fourth planet from the Sun, it will carry a suite of scientific instruments designed to tell us what makes up the Martian surface, and provide vital information about potential radiation hazards for future human explorers.
March 16th, 2001
2001 Mars Odyssey: A Solid Mission
Still smarting from back-to-back Mars failures in late 1999, NASA hopes to reconnect with the Red Planet via the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. NASA
February 25th, 2001
Anxiety Will Accompany Mars Odyssey
George Pace hops on an airport shuttle and the driver asks what he does. Working on a Mars mission, he says, the next Mars mission. “Ohhhh, that’s GOT to work,” the driver tells him, remembering NASA’s embarrassing back-to-back Mars flops in 1999. “Yeah, I think I’ve heard that before,” Pace replies. Weeks later, Pace laughs as he recalls the conversation. He’s admiring the spacecraft that he’s been charged with overseeing, the 2001 Mars Odyssey, scheduled for launch April 7.
January 5th, 2001
MARS 2001 Odyssey Spacecraft Arrives for Launch Preparation
The first major step toward NASA’s return of a spacecraft to an orbit around Mars was achieved late Thursday night, Jan. 4, when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft was shipped aboard an Air Force C-17 cargo airplane from Denver, Colo., location of the Lockheed Martin plant where the spacecraft was built. The project is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
December 11th, 2000
Red Team Preps Odyssey to Mars Aviation Week & Space Technology
With a Red Team acting as an over-the-shoulder review panel, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. say they are on target for an Apr. 7 launch of the space agency’s next mission to the red planet. The mission is the 2001 Mars Odyssey, which is to spend two years mapping the planet’s surface and measuring its environment with an eye on understanding the basics of what it will take for man to visit, and perhaps live, on the planet. The 2001 Odyssey will operate from a 400-km.- (250-mi.) high-Sun-synchronous orbit. Launch from Cape Canaveral will be on a Delta II.
October 1st, 2000
Homegrown Movement to Save Scrapped Probe
The mothballed Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander has found itself a torchbearer in Harrison Quigley. Along with a small group of friends, the Connecticut aerospace engineer has launched www.savethemarslander.org, a grass-roots attempt to get NASA to salvage the earthbound Martian probe. “All were saying is you built and tested it, now fly it,” Quigley said.
June 27th, 2000
Mars 2001 Lander Could Still Be Salvaged
There is a possibility that NASA’s Johnson Space Center may try to “buy” the Mars 2001 Lander that has been canceled by NASA despite expenditures of over $100 million to date.