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2001 Mars Odyssey is an unmanned spacecraft orbitinging the planet Mars. Its mission is to use spectrometers and imagers to hunt for evidence of past or present water and volcanic activity on Mars. It is hoped that the data Odyssey obtains will help answer the question of whether life has ever existed on Mars. It also acts as a relay for communications between the Mars Explorations Rovers and Earth.Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001, reached Mars on October 24, 2001, and began to map the planet on February 19, 2002. The three primary instruments Odyssey uses are the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE). It also carries a neutron spectrometer. On May 28, 2002, NASA reported that Odyssey's GRS had detected large amounts of hydrogen, a sign that there must be ice lying within a meter of the planet's surface.
Mars Odyssey was originally named the Mars Surveyor 2001 Orbiter and was intended to have a companion spacecraft known as Mars Surveyor 2001 Lander. The lander mission was canceled in May 2000 following the failures of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Pathfinder in late 1999. Subsequently, the name 2001 Mars Odyssey was selected for the orbiter as a specific tribute to the vision of space exploration shown in works by Arthur C. Clarke, including 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The project was developed by NASA, and contracted out to Lockheed Martin. The expected cost for the entire mission is US$297 million.
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