The discovery raised the tantalizing possibility that hot springs were once active on Mars. December 14th 2020 - 2 min 10 sec Total Solar Eclipse! [more information]. Mid 2026  -  SpaceX launches the Starship with crew bound for Mars Spaceopedia aims to educate the world's children about the amazing wonders of our Solar System and Outer Space through knowledge accumulated over the years from studying the Cosmos using Earth based observations and data (and images) sent back from Space probes. Above: The spectral "fingerprint" of hematite. The absence of such aqueous minerals is a mystery if liquid Martian water -- in the form of lakes, rivers or oceans -- was indeed abundant in the planet's geological past. ", Right: An artists concept of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Mission. Arizona State University, Tempe, provided and operates THEMIS. Late 2025  -  Europa Clipper Enters Jupiter's Moon , Eris – The Most Massive Dwarf Planet Discovered (To Date..), Project Mercury – Facts About NASA’s First Space Missions, List Of The Solar System’s 30 Biggest Moons, Search For Martians! "Odyssey will help identify and ultimately target those places on Mars where future rovers and landers must visit to unravel the mysteries of the red planet," said Jim Garvin, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Odyssey launched on April 7, 2001 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. With more than 10 years in orbit and counting, the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has spent more time in orbit around the Red Planet, collecting data on Mars' climate and geology, than any other spacecraft in history. June 2022  -  Launch of ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Odyssey has also recorded the radiation environment in low Mars orbit to determine the radiation-related risk to any future human explorers who may one day go to Mars. NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter arrived at Mars in 2001 to detect water and shallow buried ice on Mars and to study the planet’s radiation environment. Meteors & Meteorites Scientists think Mars has a bad case of rust.

University Information Security and Privacy. Saturn V Moon Rocket, Spacepedia last updated: 7th January 2020, Spectacular Rocket Failures During Launch, To The Moons, Asteroids, Comets, Dwarf Planets, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | Imaging Mars From Above. Through its many accomplishments, the spacecraft also has aided NASA's preparations for human missions to Mars by monitoring radiation in the environment around the planet via the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment, developed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. How do Earth, the planets, and the heliosphere respond? This image, courtesy of Phil Christensen, is reprinted from "Global mapping of Martian hematite mineral deposits: Remnants of water-driven processes on early Mars", by P.R. With more than 10 years in orbit and counting, the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has spent more time in orbit around the Red Planet, collecting data on Mars' climate and geology, than any other spacecraft in history. Mid 2020 -  First Crewed Flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner!

Principal investigators at Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and NASA's Johnson Space Center will operate the science instruments. THEMIS will map the planet with high-resolution thermal images and give scientists an increased level of detail to help them understand how the mineralogy of the planet relates to the landforms they see. THEMIS is a "next-generation" instrument that can capture sharper images than TES, the Thermal Emission Spectrometer that is orbiting Mars now aboard Mars Global Surveyor. Mid 2021  -  LUCY Spacecraft - To Jupiter's Trojans! Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and at Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico.

Instruments tailored to collect data during the descent of NASA's next rover through the Red Planet's atmosphere have been checked in flight. "The launch of 2001 Mars Odyssey represents a milestone in our exploration of Mars -- the first launch in our restructured Mars Exploration Program we announced last October," said Ed Weiler, Associate Administrator for Space Science at NASA Headquarters.

The hematite makes scientists wonder, was there once a Martian equivalent of Yellowstone National Park where steaming hot springs formed hematite-laden pools? [more information]. Cool Space Rockets! Apollo Moon Missions The coarse-grained structure of gray hematite is important, says ASU's Jack Farmer, head of the NASA Astrobiology Institute's Mars Focus Group, because "to get that kind of coarsening of the crystallinity, you would need to have a reasonable amount of water available" where the hematite formed. In the 2030's  -  NASA plans to send Orion and Astronauts to Mars. "We think the deposit is fairly old. December 19th 2024  -  Parker Solar Probe's closest approach to The Sun Carbonated Mars -- Science@NASA article: Here on Earth the only way to make carbonate rocks is with the aid of liquid water. [more information]. November 8th 2022 - Total Lunar Eclipse Every mineral has a unique infrared spectrum that identifies it as surely as the fingerprints of a human being, she added. Credit: NASA/JPL [more]. May 26th 2021 - Total Lunar Eclipse It has mapped the amount and distribution of chemical elements and minerals that make up the Martian surface. "If you ground up the gray hematite into a fine powder it would turn red because the smaller grains scatter red light.".

Minor Planets | The Solar System’s Building Blocks That Survive, Planet Mercury | Learn About The Rocky Little Inner Planet, Planet Uranus | The Planet Lying On Its Side, Planet Jupiter | The Solar System’s Gas Giant, Planet Venus | Cool Fun Facts about the Morning Star, Pluto | The Dwarf Planet Formerly Known As A Planet, Supernova | The Spectacular Death Of A Star! Because hydrogen is most likely present in the form of water-ice, the spectrometer will be able to measure permanent ground ice and how that changes with the seasons. Left: The distribution of hematite in Sinus Meridiani. April 20th 2023 - 1 min 16 sec Total Solar Eclipse! Centers And Events Gray hematite has the same chemical formula (Fe2O3) as its rusty-red cousin, but a different crystalline structure. "Red and gray iron oxides on Mars are really just different forms of the same mineral," explained Hamilton. 9. "For the first time at Mars, we will have a spacecraft that is equipped to find evidence for present near-surface water and to map mineral deposits from past water activity," said Steve Saunders, 2001 Mars Odyssey project scientist at JPL. Space & Universe Mid 2020  -  Virgin Galactic's First Space Tourism Flight! August 2nd 2027 - 6 min 23 sec Total Solar Eclipse! THEMIS map pixels will occupy just 0.01 square-kilometers compared to 9 square-km per pixel for TES. Two GRS instruments are still active: the high-energy neutron detector from the Russian Space Research Institute and the neutron spectrometer from Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico. The spacecraft's main mission is to investigate the Martian environment and to provide key information on hazards future explorers might face. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Space Exploration Timeline "Mars continues to surprise us at every turn. Odyssey's three-instrument Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) suite detected significant amount of hydrogen on the planet -- interpreted as water ice hidden beneath the surface. Early 2020 -  First Crewed Flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon! Other than our own Moon, Mars has attracted more spacecraft exploration attempts than any other object in the solar system, and no other planet has proved as daunting to success. Mid 2020  -  Blue Origin's First Space Tourism Flight! In its current orbit, the spacecraft always flies near each pole and along what is called the terminator. What are the characteristics of the Solar System? THEMIS data could help planners pinpoint the best places to land, especially if the maps reveal deposits of other aqueous minerals such as carbonates or sulfates. "For minerals, the rate at which the atoms vibrate corresponds to the thermal infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, between about 5 and 50 microns. Of the 30 missions sent to Mars by three countries over 40 years, fewer than one-third have been successful. What are the characteristics of the Solar System? Mars Exploration Homepage -- website provided by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Mars Odyssey mission -- homepage for the orbiter mission scheduled to launch April 7, 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission -- homepage for the 2003 mission that will send a pair of rovers to the surface of Mars.

2003 Mars Exploration Rovers mission -- homepage for the 2003 mission that will send a pair of rovers to the surface of Mars. May 6th 2025 - Saturn at equinox (the Rings disappear!) Scientists are releasing new information from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, highlighting water ice distribution on the planet and color images of surface, this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco.NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft began its science mapping mission on Feb. 19, 2001. Disclaimer: This page is kept for historical purposes, but the content is no longer actively updated. The spacecraft launched on April 7, 2001, and arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001, 0230 Universal Time (October 23, 7:30 pm PDT/ 10:30 EDT). Christensen cautions that the spatial resolution of TES on Mars Global Surveyor might not have been good enough to detect small deposits of carbonates. On Dec. 15, 2010, it became the longest-operating spacecraft ever sent to Mars, and continues to hold that record today. The 2001 Mars Odyssey mission, launched on April 7, 2001, is NASA's longest-serving spacecraft in operation at Mars. March 2021  -  Launch the James Webb Telescope! March 28, 2001 -- What makes the Red Planet red?

Carbonated Mars -- Science@NASA article: Here on Earth the only way to make carbonate rocks is with the aid of liquid water. Space Exploration Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL.Additional information about the 2001 Mars Odyssey is available on the Internet at: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/.

2001 Mars Odyssey -- mission home page at JPL. NASA’s ‘Energizer’ Mars Orbiter The 2001 Mars Odyssey mission, launched on April 7, 2001, is NASA's longest-serving spacecraft in operation at Mars. Learn About NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope! Our Nearest Galactic Neighbour The Andromeda Galaxy, Russian Space Tourism To The International Space Station.

Solar System