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Mars Odyssey

NASA's longest-serving Mars spacecraft, in orbit since October 2001. Odyssey found ice just below the surface and relays data from rovers on the ground.

NASA·Mars Orbit·Launched 7 April 2001·Active
—days —h —m —s in space
Distance from Earth
203.89 M km
1.362893 AU
Distance from Sun
239.84 M km
1.603235 AU
Speed
92,622 km/h
25.728 km/s
Signal Delay
11.3 min
one way

The Longest-Serving Mars Spacecraft

Mars Odyssey has been active at Mars longer than any other spacecraft. It arrived on 24 October 2001, took the record on 15 December 2010 and marked 25 years in orbit in October 2026. Its gamma-ray spectrometer showed in 2002 that large amounts of water ice lie just below the surface at high latitudes, a finding that shaped the direction of Mars exploration.

Mapping and Relaying

Its THEMIS camera has taken more than a million images, used to map minerals and temperatures and to help pick safe landing sites. Odyssey is part of the Mars Relay Network that passes data from rovers and landers back to Earth, and it also studies clouds, fog and frost.

Mission Timeline

7 April 2001
Launch on a Delta II
24 October 2001
Enters orbit around Mars
19 February 2002
First science data from its mapping orbit
May 2002
Reveals large amounts of ice just below the surface
15 December 2010
Becomes the longest-serving spacecraft ever at Mars
24 October 2026
Marks 25 years in orbit around Mars

Key Data

MissionMars Odyssey
AgencyNASA
StatusActive
TargetMars Orbit
Launch date7 April 2001

Questions people ask

Mars Odyssey is in orbit around Mars, 203.9 million km from Earth. Radio signals take 11 min 20 s to travel between Odyssey and Earth.
Since 24 October 2001. No other spacecraft has been active at Mars longer: Odyssey took the record on 15 December 2010 and marked 25 years in Mars orbit in October 2026.
Its gamma-ray spectrometer found that large amounts of water ice lie just below the surface at high latitudes, a 2002 finding that shaped Mars exploration. Its THEMIS camera has taken more than a million images.

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