[meteorite-list] NASA Mars Orbiter Repositioned to Phone Home Mars Landing

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:03:22 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201207250003.q6P03MDL000850_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

July 24, 2012

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-6278
guy.webster at jpl.nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-255

NASA MARS ORBITER REPOSITIONED TO PHONE HOME MARS LANDING

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has successfully
adjusted its orbital location to be in a better position to provide
prompt confirmation of the August landing of the Curiosity rover.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft carrying Curiosity can
send limited information directly to Earth as it enters Mars'
atmosphere. Before the landing, Earth will set below the Martian
horizon from the descending spacecraft's perspective, ending that
direct route of communication. Odyssey will help to speed up the
indirect communication process.

NASA reported during a July 16 news conference that Odyssey, which
originally was planned to provide a near-real-time communication link
with Curiosity, had entered safe mode July 11. This situation would
have affected communication operations, but not the rover's landing.
Without a repositioning maneuver, Odyssey would have arrived over the
landing area about two minutes after Curiosity landed.

A spacecraft thruster burn Tuesday lasting about six seconds has
nudged Odyssey about six minutes ahead in its orbit. Odyssey now is
operating normally, and confirmation of Curiosity's landing is
expected to reach Earth at about 10:31 p.m. PDT Aug. 5, as originally
planned.

"Information we are receiving indicates the maneuver has been
completed as planned," said Gaylon McSmith, Mars Odyssey project
manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in Pasadena,
Calif. "Odyssey has been working at Mars longer than any other
spacecraft, so it is appropriate that it has a special role in
supporting the newest arrival."

Two other Mars orbiters, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and
the European Space Agency's Mars Express, also will be in position to
receive radio transmissions from MSL during its descent. However,
they will be recording information for later playback. Only Odyssey
can relay information immediately.

Odyssey arrived at Mars in 2001. In addition to its own scientific
observations, it has served as a communications relay for NASA's
Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers and the Phoenix lander. Spirit and
Phoenix are no longer operational. Odyssey and MRO will provide
communication relays for Curiosity during the rover's two-year prime
mission.

Odyssey and MSL, with its Curiosity rover, are managed by JPL for
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Curiosity was
designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The Odyssey spacecraft is
operated by JPL and Lockheed Martin in Denver. Lockheed Martin Space
Systems in Denver built Odyssey.

For more information about Mars Odyssey, visit:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey

For information about the Curiosity landing and other NASA Mars
missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars
        
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Received on Tue 24 Jul 2012 08:03:22 PM PDT