Initial science data from NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which began
its mapping mission last week, portend some tantalizing findings by the
newest Martian visitor, including possible identification of
significant amounts of frozen water.
“We are delighted with the quality of data we’re seeing,” said Dr.
Steve Saunders, Odyssey project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. “We’ll use it to build on what we’ve
learned from Mars Global Surveyor and other missions. Now we may
actually see water rather than guessing where it is or was. And with
the thermal images we are able to examine surface geology from a new
perspective.”
“These preliminary Odyssey observations are the ‘tip of the iceberg’ of
the science results that are soon to come, so stay tuned,” said Dr. Jim
Garvin, Lead Scientist of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA
Headquarters in Washington.
New images taken by the thermal-emission imaging system show the
temperature of the surface at a remarkable level of clarity and detail
during both the Martian day and night.
Odyssey’s camera system is studying Mars’ surface mineralogy to reveal
geologic history. The thermal infrared images are thirty times sharper
than previously available, and the camera’s visible-light images will
fill a gap in resolution between Viking Orbiter and Mars Global
Surveyor pictures.
Initial measurements by the gamma-ray spectrometer instrument suite
show the presence of significant amounts of hydrogen in the south polar
region of Mars. The high hydrogen content is most likely due to water
ice, though the amount of ice cannot be quantified yet. Further
analysis will be conducted to confirm the interpretation.
The detection of hydrogen is based both on the intensity of gamma rays
emitted by hydrogen, and by the intensity of neutrons that are
moderated by hydrogen. The neutron intensity was observed by the high-
energy neutron detector and the neutron spectrometer.
“The preliminary assessment of the gamma-ray spectrometer data
indicates the likely presence of hydrogen in the upper few feet of the
Martian surface, as sampled at spatial scales approximately 400 miles
across. Further analysis and another month or so of mapping will permit
more quantitative assessment of these observations and allow for a
refined interpretation,” added Garvin.
Measurements made by the Martian radiation-environment experiment
during Odyssey’s cruise phase suggest that the daily dose of radiation
experienced by astronauts on their way from Earth to Mars would be more
than twice the dose endured by astronauts on the International Space
Station. Investigators are in the process of troubleshooting the
radiation experiment to determine why the instrument stopped
communicating. It was turned off in August 2001.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space
Science in Washington. Investigators at Arizona State University in
Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson and NASA’s Johnson Space
Center, Houston, operate the science instruments.
Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and
Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and at
Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the
neutron spectrometer.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the
project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are
conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL.
The latest images from Mars Odyssey are available on the Internet at:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey
Additional information about the spacecraft’s neutron detector and
neutron spectrometer is available online at:
http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/results/presscon1/
