Odyssey mission status Options

[djellison]

Reaction wheels, propellant depletion, electronics, etc?

Yes - any and all of those could cause its demise. The only certainty is that it will run out of prop eventually, and if another reaction wheel goes, that time frame is accelerated rapidly.

[mcaplinger]

MGS was lost to operator error. Hopefully that lesson's been learned, but it's always a possibility.

[Doug M.]

And this week marks the 15th anniversary of the launch of Mars Odyssey (7 April 2001). Odyssey arrived at Mars orbit on 24 October 2001 and began science operations in February 2002.

On one hand, that's pretty amazing. On the other hand, in terms of currently active spacecraft operating beyond Earth's orbit, I think Odyssey just barely makes the top five (after Cassini, SOHO, and of course the Voyagers).

Anyway, congratulations to the Odyssey team.


Doug M.

[propguy]

ODY is still my favorite program to have worked. It was a wonderful recovery from the failed MSP98 missions and also the only time (of the 13 missions I have worked on that have gone beyond Earth orbit) that I was able to see something I worked on launch. It was a wonderfully clear day and the launch was spectacular. There will be a gathering tomorrow to remember that day. Hard to believe it has been 15 years, how fast time flies.

[Doug M.]

Odyssey's longevity is really inspiring. That said, there are now five orbiters and two rovers at Mars -- and of that fleet, three of the orbiters and one of the rovers have now been there for a decade or longer!


Doug M.

[Doug M.]

Just ran across an interesting recent paper on Martian surface sulfates, which appears to be based largely on GRS data from Odyssey:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/201...u-ddi072516.php


Doug M.

[Doug M.]

ODY's 15th anniversary of entering Mars orbit passed unnoticed last month. Next milestone: in February 2017, the 15th anniversary of the beginning of its science mission.


Doug M.

[Doug M.]

ODY's 15th anniversary of entering Mars orbit passed unnoticed last month. Next milestone: in February 2017, the 15th anniversary of the beginning of its science mission.

17 years since arrival at Mars.

What space probes are still active that are older than MODY? The two Voyagers, of course. In Earth orbit, or at an Earth Lagrange point, we have Hubble (1990), Geotail (1992), Wind (1994), SOHO (1995), ACE (1997), Chandra (1999), Landsat 7 (1999), Terra (1999), XMM-Newton (1999) and Cluster II (2000). However, I'm pretty sure that MODY is now the third oldest active human spacecraft outside Earth orbit.


Doug M.

[RoverDriver]

There have been so many missions who depended on ODY for their relay! We often give it for granted but the way this mission has been managed even in spite of the ever decreasing budget is quite remarkable.

Paolo

[MahFL]

There have been so many missions who depended on ODY for their relay! We often give it for granted but the way this mission has been managed even in spite of the ever decreasing budget is quite remarkable.

Paolo

Are you talking ODY's budget, cause I thought the over all NASA's budget had increased this year.

http://www.planetary.org/blogs/casey-dreie...18-omnibus.html

[RoverDriver]

Yes, I meant ODY budget.

Paolo

[Doug M.]

This week marks the 18th anniversary of MODY's insertion into Mars orbit.

MODY is the third longest-lived active spacecraft beyond Earth orbit, after the two Voyagers. It's lost an instrument and a flywheel, but is still functional and still doing science.


Doug M.

[atomoid]

i saw this atrophied thread finally get an update and clicked in expecting the worst... but instead its yet another seemingly unbeatable milestone (unbeatable? just wait!)