U.S. Water News Online
PASADENA, Calif. -- The 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has greatly tightened its orbit around the Red Planet by skimming the upper atmosphere and the spacecraft should begin 2 1/2 years of scientific observations in February, NASA said.
The process, called aerobraking, has reduced the time it takes Odyssey to complete each orbit from the initial 18 1/2 hours when it reached Mars in October to three hours and 15 minutes now.
Aerobraking should be completed on schedule and then thrusters will be used to circularize the orbit over about a month's time, said David A. Spencer, Odyssey mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The spacecraft carries instruments that will, among other pursuits, look for water near the surface of the planet.
Odyssey was launched April 7 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and reached Mars on Oct. 23.
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