[meteorite-list] NASA's Mars Odyssey Spacecraft Unveils Early Science Results

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:02:24 2004
Message-ID: <200203011948.LAA05658_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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Contact: JPL/Guy Webster (818) 354-6278
          NASA Headquarters/Don Savage (202) 358-1727
     
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2002

NASA'S MARS ODYSSEY SPACECRAFT UNVEILS EARLY SCIENCE RESULTS

Initial science data from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft,
which began its mapping mission last week, portend some
tantalizing findings by the newest Martian visitor, including
possible identification of significant amounts of frozen
water.

     "We are delighted with the quality of data we're seeing,"
said Dr. Steve Saunders, Odyssey project scientist at JPL.
"We'll use it to build on what we've learned from Mars Global
Surveyor and other missions. Now we may actually see water
rather than guessing where it is or was. And with the thermal
images we are able to examine surface geology from a new
perspective."

     "These preliminary Odyssey observations are the 'tip of
the iceberg' of the science results that are soon to come, so
stay tuned," said Dr. Jim Garvin, lead scientist of the Mars
Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

     New images taken by the thermal emission imaging system
show the temperature of the surface at a remarkable level of
clarity and detail during both the martian day and night. The
images can be seen at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey and
http://themis.asu.edu/latest . Odyssey's camera system is
studying Mars' surface mineralogy to reveal geologic history.
The thermal infrared images are 30 times sharper than
previously available images, and the camera's visible-light
images will fill a gap in resolution between Viking Orbiter
and Mars Global Surveyor pictures.

Initial measurements by the gamma ray spectrometer
instrument suite show the presence of significant amounts of
hydrogen in the south polar region of Mars. The high hydrogen
content is most likely due to water ice, though the amount of
ice cannot be quantified yet. Further analysis will be
conducted to confirm the interpretation. The detection of
hydrogen is based both on the intensity of gamma rays emitted
by hydrogen, and by the intensity of neutrons that are
moderated by hydrogen. The neutron intensity was observed by
the high energy neutron detector and the neutron spectrometer.
Additional information is available online at
http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/results/presscon1/ .

"The preliminary assessment of the gamma-ray spectrometer
data indicates the likely presence of hydrogen in the upper
few feet of the martian surface as sampled at spatial scales
approximately 400 miles across. Further analysis and another
month or so of mapping will permit more quantitative
assessment of these observations and allow for a refined
interpretation," said Garvin.

     Measurements made by the martian radiation environment
experiment during Odyssey's cruise phase suggest that the
daily dose of radiation experienced by astronauts on their way
from Earth to Mars would be more than twice the dose endured
by astronauts on the International Space Station.
Investigators are in the process of troubleshooting the
radiation experiment to determine why the instrument stopped
communicating and was turned off in August 2001.

     The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars
Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science,
Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in
Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson
Space Center, Houston, operate the science 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. Lockheed
Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the
project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission
operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
Pasadena.

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Received on Fri 01 Mar 2002 02:48:03 PM PST