CMA Presents "The Odyssey of Odyssey: Why We Could Not Fail"

2001 Mars Odyssey is our newest spacecraft at Mars and is poised to provide us with years of exciting data about the Red Planet. It has recently measured a vast quantity of frozen water at the poles of Mars — enough to fill Lake Michigan twice! Mars Odyssey is also creating a Martian global mineral map and a radiation map for future Mars exploration. The current success of the Odyssey Project is a tribute to the men and women who had to overcome many challenges to reach this point.

Roger Gibbs will discuss challenges the project faced during the development phase. One of the major challenges was the transition from a low-cost mission to one that the entire Mars Program depended upon — one "that could not fail."

Dave Spencer will discuss the preparation for and execution of the operations phase. He will describe how to build, train, and manage the operations team to ensure mission success.

Steve Saunders will discuss the significance of the first science data return and its implications for a deeper understanding of the Red Planet.

Join us on this continuing adventure of discovery about Mars, the secrets of its surface, and its impact on future Mars exploration.

This event is free. All JPL/Campus personnel are welcome.

For additional information about this event, please send

e-mail to [email protected] or call Randii Wessen, (818) 354-7580.