Mars Odyssey Mission Status 12 Apr 2001

Due to a favorable launch trajectory on Saturday, flight
controllers for Mars Odyssey have decided that they can
postpone the first maneuver to fine-tune the spacecraft’s
flight path. All systems on the spacecraft are in excellent
health.

The first trajectory correction maneuver had been
scheduled for Monday, April 16, but after analyzing the
current spacecraft trajectory, spacecraft engineers have
decided to wait until later in the cruise phase to perform the
first maneuver. The navigation team is currently evaluating
dates in late May for a potential mid-course correction.

Flight controllers will now concentrate on turning
on and calibrating the science instruments. On Monday, they
will send commands to Odyssey that tell the spacecraft to
position itself in its cruise attitude and point both the
medium and high gain antennas toward the Earth. On Tuesday,
they will turn on the thermal infrared imaging system (THEMIS)
and then on Thursday, THEMIS will take both a thermal infrared
and a visible image of the Earth.

Odyssey is currently 1,488,556 kilometers (924,944 miles)
from Earth and traveling at a speed of 3.3 kilometers per
second (7,455 miles per hour) relative to the Earth.

The Mars Odyssey mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington,
D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, Calif. The Odyssey spacecraft was built
by Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo.