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NASA's Mars Odyssey Maneuvers to Image Comet Siding Spring

October 17, 2014

Mars program Chief Engineer Robert Shotwell describes Mars Odyssey's unprecedented view of comet Siding Spring as the comet sweeps by the Red Planet on Oct. 19 and how it will maneuver to take images.

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On the southwest edge of the immense volcanic region of Tharsis, lava from its giant volcanoes flowed down to meet the old cratered landscape of Terra Sirenum.
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On the southwest edge of the immense volcanic region of Tharsis, lava from its giant volcanoes flowed down to meet the old cratered landscape of Terra Sirenum.
Terra Sirenum
Although it is 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide, countless layers of ice and dust have all but buried Udzha Crater.
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Although it is 45 kilometers (28 miles) wide, countless layers of ice and dust have all but buried Udzha Crater.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Udzha Crater
A false-color mosaic focuses on one junction in Noctis Labyrinthus where canyons meet to form a depression 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep.
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A false-color mosaic focuses on one junction in Noctis Labyrinthus where canyons meet to form a depression 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Noctis Canyon
A group of small, unnamed craters in the martian southern hemisphere is the first site captured by a group of middle school students who are operating the camera system onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey ...
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Students looking at a computer while participating in the Mars Student Imaging Project
Students participating in the Mars Student Imaging Project
Marte Vallis, located in Amazonis Planitia, is broad and shallow. The streamlined islands at the top and bottom of the image illustrate this.
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Marte Vallis, located in Amazonis Planitia, is broad and shallow. The streamlined islands at the top and bottom of the image illustrate this.
Marte Vallis in Amazonis Planitia
Dr. Phil Varghese, Odyssey Project Manager.
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Dr. Phil Varghese, Odyssey Project Manager.
Dr. Phil Varghese
A small basin (center foreground) lies below the southern rim of Melas Chasma, part of Valles Marineris.
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A small basin (center foreground) lies below the southern rim of Melas Chasma, part of Valles Marineris.
Melas Chasma's Ancient Lake
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter arrived at Mars on Oct. 24, 2001.
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NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter arrived at Mars on Oct. 24, 2001. Displayed is an illustration of some of the highlights of the spacecraft in the last 20 years
Mars Odyssey Orbiter By the Numbers
Download a PDF of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Launch Press Kit.
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Odyssey launch press kit
2001 Mars Odyssey Launch Press Kit
This rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars. Cool colors are closer to the surface than warm colors; black zones indicate areas where a spacecraft would sink into fine dust; the ou...
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This rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars.
A Water Ice Map for Mars
Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture.
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Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Bunge Crater Dunes
Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.
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Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.
Buzz Aldrin
This pair of maps indicates locations of confirmed sites of recurrent slope linea on Mars, with respect to elevation (upper map) and surface brightness, or albedo (lower map).
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This pair of maps indicates locations of confirmed sites of recurrent slope linea on Mars, with respect to elevation (upper map) and surface brightness, or albedo (lower map).
Maps of Recurrent Slope Linea Markings on Mars
Olympica Fossae is a complex channel located on the volcanic plains between Alba Mons and Olympus Mons. The sinuosity of the large channel in the middle of this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey ...
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Olympica Fossae
Olympica Fossae
A small impact crater on Mars named Gratteri, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) wide, lies at the center of large dark streaks.
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A small impact crater on Mars named Gratteri, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) wide, lies at the center of large dark streaks.
Mars Impact Crater Gratteri
This image is near the southern edge of a low, broad volcanic feature called Syrtis Major.
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This image is near the southern edge of a low, broad volcanic feature called Syrtis Major. A close look at this image reveals a wrinkly texture that indicates a very rough surface that is associated with the lava flows that cover this region. On a larger scale, there are numerous bright streaks that trail topographic features such as craters. These bright streaks are in the wind shadows of the craters where dust that settles onto the surface is not as easily scoured away. It is important to note that these streaks are only bright in a relative sense to the surrounding image. Syrtis Major is one of the darkest regions on Mars and it is as dark as fresh basalt flows or dunes are on Earth.
Syrtis Major
This artist's animation shows how NASA's Curiosity rover will communicate with Earth via two of NASA's Mars orbiters, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Odyssey. As the rover descends to the surface o...
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Communicating with Curiosity
Communicating with Curiosity
This image shows a 90-mile-wide portion of the giant Valles Marineris canyon system. Landslide debris and gullies in the canyon walls on Mars can be seen at 100 meters (330 feet) per pixel.
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This image shows a 90-mile-wide portion of the giant Valles Marineris canyon system. Landslide debris and gullies in the canyon walls on Mars can be seen at 100 meters (330 feet) per pixel.
Close View of Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris, the "Grand Canyon of Mars," sprawls wide enough to reach from Los Angeles to nearly New York City, if it were located on Earth. The red outline box shows the location of a second,...
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Valles Marineris, the "Grand Canyon of Mars," sprawls wide enough to reach from Los Angeles to nearly New York City, if it were located on Earth. The red outline box shows the location of a second, full-resolution image.
Valles Marineris, the "Grand Canyon of Mars"
If a meteorite breaks in two shortly before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled.
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If a meteorite breaks in two shortly before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Dual Crater
This mosaic image of Valles Marineris - colored to resemble the martian surface - comes from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a visible-light and infrared-sensing camera on NASA's Mars...
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This mosaic image of Valles Marineris - colored to resemble the martian surface - comes from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS), a visible-light and infrared-sensing camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.
The Grand Canyon of Mars-Valles Marineris
This movie shows the Martian moon Phobos as viewed in visible light by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter on April 24, 2019. The apparent motion is due to movement by Odyssey's infrared camera, Therm...
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This movie shows the Martian moon Phobos as viewed in visible light by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter.
Odyssey Views Phobos in Visible Light: April 24, 2019
Researchers estimating the amount of carbon held in the ground at the largest known carbonate-containing deposit on Mars utilized data from three different NASA Mars orbiters.
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Researchers estimating the amount of carbon held in the ground at the largest known carbonate-containing deposit on Mars utilized data from five instruments on three different NASA Mars orbiters, including physical properties from THEMIS (left) and mineral information from CRISM (right).
Multiple Instruments Used for Mars Carbon Estimate
At 11:02 a.m. EDT on April 7, 2001, crowds watch a Boeing Delta II rocket lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, carrying NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft into space on its sev...
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At 11:02 a.m. EDT on April 7, 2001, crowds watch a Boeing Delta II rocket lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, carrying NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft into space on its seven-month journey to Mars.
Odyssey's Launch to Mars on April 7, 2001
A vast dune field lies near the northern polar cap of Mars. Seen here in summer, the dunes have partially buried an impact crater about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) wide.
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A vast dune field lies near the northern polar cap of Mars. Seen here in summer, the dunes have partially buried an impact crater about 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) wide.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Dunes Engulf Crater

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