Odyssey Mission Extended to Sept 2010

[MeteorWayne]

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Arial','sans-serif'">A veteran Mars probe received a two-year mission extension though Sept. 2010 to keep watch over the red planet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Arial','sans-serif'">NASA's Mars Odyssey represents the longest-serving of six spacecraft currently orbiting Mars, after first reaching the planet in 2001. Its new extended mission requires changing orbit to gain a better vantage point for doing infrared mapping of Martian minerals.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Arial','sans-serif'">The first year of the two-year extended mission carries a price tag of $11 million through Sept. 2009, said Guy Webster, NASA spokesperson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Arial','sans-serif'">An orbital adjustment should allow Odyssey to look down at sites in mid-afternoon rather than late afternoon. The spacecraft's thermal camera could then better detect infrared radiation from warmer rocks to better identify them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:'Arial','sans-serif'">http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/081010-mars-odyssey-extension.html</span></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

<p><font size="2"><strong>Excellent news Wayne.</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Early afternoon passes will reveal the surface minerologymore accurately as the IR minerological signature will be stronger. Odyssey is a real venerable craft, far outlasted what was expected, relayed reliably data from three landing missions (MERs & Phoenix) & continues to do so.</strong></font></p><p><strong><font size="2">This major extension for so little money will really improve out knowledge of the minerology & the context of that minerology with aereological features & also with differeing aged terrain.</font></strong></p><p><font size="4">JPL article here.</font>&nbsp;</p><p><font size="2"><strong>I would not be at all surprised Odyssey will out live this extension & be able to relay the MSL, now it looks as if MSL has been saved.<br /></strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Wonder if she'll ever be turned towards Phobos?</strong></font></p><p><font size="2"><strong>Andrew Brown.&nbsp;</strong></font></p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Good news from SDC:
The Mars Odyssey orbiter's computer system was rebooted yesterday to clear memory flaws accumulated in more than five years since the last reboot.

The procedure also restored Odyssey's onboard set of backup systems, called the spacecraft's "B side," allowing its use in the future when necessary, according to a NASA statement.

"For nearly two years, we have not known for certain whether the backup systems would be usable, so this successful reboot has allowed us to ascertain their health and availability for future use," said Odyssey Project Manager Philip Varghese of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

NASA had said last week the reboot was needed.

Odyssey has been orbiting Mars since 2001 and has never switched from its primary set of components, the "A side," to the backup set, which includes an identical computer processor, navigation sensors, relay radio and other components. In March 2006, the B-side spare of a component for managing the distribution of power became inoperable.

Analysis by engineers identified a possibility that rebooting Odyssey might restore that component, which proved to be a side benefit of yesterday's procedure to refresh onboard memory.

The Odyssey team began a series of steps after the reboot to carefully return the spacecraft to full functioning over the next few days, the statement said. Science instruments will be back to studying Mars by next week, mission planners expect.

An unexpected rise in temperature of the star camera in Odyssey's navigation system on March 9 had prompted a postponement of the rebooting originally scheduled for the next day. Engineers identified the cause as a heater circuit that was temporarily stuck "on." The circuit was turned off before yesterday's reboot.