Odyssey Settles Into Orbit Around Mars
More than three months after arriving at the Red Planet, NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has settled into the right orbit and is being readied for science work in late February. The robotic spacecraft fired its thrusters twice last week to further trim the nearly circular path it travels around Mars.
On Thursday, the Martian satellite was traveling 7,607 mph as it zipped around the planet once every two hours. It has completed more than 584 orbits, currently at altitudes that range 239 miles to 278 miles above the surface. Odyssey will map the mineral and chemical makeup of the surface of Mars and hunt for large deposits of water during its mission.
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Compiled by Times staff writer Thomas H. Maugh II
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