lol Ron... wait until they try to land... Rosie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Baalke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 7:44 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Mars Odyssey Succesfully Deploys GRS Boom
> > > MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE > JET PROPULSION LABORATORY > CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY > NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION > PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 > http://www.jpl.nasa.gov > > Mars Odyssey Mission Status > June 4, 2002 > > Flight controllers for NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft completed > the last major technical milestone today in support of the > science mission by unfurling the boom that holds the gamma ray > spectrometer sensor head instrument. > > Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., > received confirmation from the spacecraft that the 6.2-meter > (20-foot) boom was successfully deployed at noon Pacific time. > > The gamma sensor head is part of the gamma ray spectrometer > suite. It sits at the end of the boom to minimize interference > from any gamma rays coming from the spacecraft itself. The two > other gamma ray spectrometer instruments, the neutron > spectrometer and the high-energy neutron detector, are mounted > on the main spacecraft structure. > > During the past few months, while the boom was in the stowed > position, the instrument suite has provided significant > information about the hydrogen abundance on Mars. This allowed > scientists to conclude there are large quantities of water ice > just below the surface. > > "Deploying the boom enhances the sensitivity and accuracy of the > gamma ray spectrometer instrument and will improve the accuracy > of the hydrogen measurements," said Dr. William Boynton, > principal investigator for Odyssey's gamma ray spectrometer suite > at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Now the instrument will > begin measuring many other important elements such as iron, > aluminum, potassium, chlorine, thorium, uranium and others. > > "Today's deployment is a continuation of the excellent > performance of this flight team. They have done an outstanding > job," said Roger Gibbs, Odyssey's project manager at JPL. "I > look forward to many exciting discoveries to come as we continue > our mission." > > JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of > Space Science, Washington, D.C. Principal 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 investigators are > located at the Russian Space Research Institute and Los Alamos > National Laboratories, New Mexico. 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, a division of the California > Institute of Technology in Pasadena. > > # # # # # > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
