Donald Savage/Dolores Beasley
Headquarters, Washington                                  March 1, 2002
(Phone: 202/358-1547)

Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 
(Phone: 818/354-5011)

RELEASE: 02-41

NASA'S MARS ODYSSEY UNVEILS EARLY SCIENCE RESULTS

 Initial science data from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, which began 
its mapping mission last week, portend some tantalizing findings by the 
newest Martian visitor, including possible identification of 
significant amounts of frozen water.

"We are delighted with the quality of data we're seeing," said Dr. 
Steve Saunders, Odyssey project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif. "We'll use it to build on what we've 
learned from Mars Global Surveyor and other missions. Now we may 
actually see water rather than guessing where it is or was. And with 
the thermal images we are able to examine surface geology from a new 
perspective." 

"These preliminary Odyssey observations are the 'tip of the iceberg' of 
the science results that are soon to come, so stay tuned," said Dr. Jim 
Garvin, Lead Scientist of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA 
Headquarters in Washington.

New images taken by the thermal-emission imaging system show the 
temperature of the surface at a remarkable level of clarity and detail 
during both the Martian day and night. 

Odyssey's camera system is studying Mars' surface mineralogy to reveal 
geologic history. The thermal infrared images are thirty times sharper 
than previously available, and the camera's visible-light images will 
fill a gap in resolution between Viking Orbiter and Mars Global 
Surveyor pictures. 

Initial measurements by the gamma-ray spectrometer instrument suite 
show the presence of significant amounts of hydrogen in the south polar 
region of Mars. The high hydrogen content is most likely due to water 
ice, though the amount of ice cannot be quantified yet. Further 
analysis will be conducted to confirm the interpretation. 

The detection of hydrogen is based both on the intensity of gamma rays 
emitted by hydrogen, and by the intensity of neutrons that are 
moderated by hydrogen. The neutron intensity was observed by the high-
energy neutron detector and the neutron spectrometer.

"The preliminary assessment of the gamma-ray spectrometer data 
indicates the likely presence of hydrogen in the upper few feet of the 
Martian surface, as sampled at spatial scales approximately 400 miles 
across. Further analysis and another month or so of mapping will permit 
more quantitative assessment of these observations and allow for a 
refined interpretation," added Garvin.

Measurements made by the Martian radiation-environment experiment 
during Odyssey's cruise phase suggest that the daily dose of radiation 
experienced by astronauts on their way from Earth to Mars would be more 
than twice the dose endured by astronauts on the International Space 
Station. Investigators are in the process of troubleshooting the 
radiation experiment to determine why the instrument stopped 
communicating. It was turned off in August 2001. 

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, 
manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space 
Science in Washington. Investigators at Arizona State University in 
Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson and NASA's Johnson Space 
Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. 

Additional science partners are located at the Russian Aviation and 
Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and at 
Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the 
neutron spectrometer. 

Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the 
project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are 
conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL.

The latest images from Mars Odyssey are available on the Internet at:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey

http://themis.asu.edu/latest

Additional information about the spacecraft's neutron detector and 
neutron spectrometer is available online at:

http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/results/presscon1/