NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection

Mars Odyssey Lifts Off for Mars

Next stop: Mars. On Saturday the 2001 Mars Odyssey [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] spacecraft lifted off [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] from Cape Canaveral [ http://www.patrick.…], Florida [ http://www.census.g…] on a path to enter orbit around Mars [ http://www.nineplan…] in late October. Pictured [ http://www-pao.ksc.…] above [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], a Delta II [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] rocket lifted [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] the robot spacecraft, located in the nose cone, off the launch pad, while a camera mounted on the side of the rocket took the inset picture. The Odyssey orbiter [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] will map the locations of chemical elements [ http://pearl1.lanl.…] and minerals [ http://helio.estec.…], look for evidence of water [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], and measure the Martian radiation environment [ http://mars.jpl.nas…]. These data will help NASA better determine whether life ever arose on Mars [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], better understand the climate [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] and geology [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] or Mars, and better plan for future human exploration [ http://mars.jpl.nas…]. The spacecraft's name is a tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey [ http://kubrickfilms…], an epic fictional story of future space exploration written [ http://www.visual-m…] by Arthur C. Clarke [ http://library.thin…].

KSC [ http://www.ksc.nasa…], NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]

launch

Mars Odyssey

Mars

Florida

Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

Mars

2001 Mars Odyssey

http://antwrp.gsfc.…

SPD-APOD-ap010409