The Odyssey Mars Rover, NASA's third space probe after the Mars Climate Satellite and the Mars Polar Lander, was launched on April 7, 2001, entered Orbit on Mars in October of that year, and has been working on Mars since February 2002, making it the longest Working Mars rover to date. In 2008, Zheng Renyuan (a University of Washington alumnus) successfully controlled the US "Odyssey" Mars rover, which was the first high-definition photography of Mars in Chinese.
Odyssey is the third space probe after the Mars Climate Satellite and the Mars Polar Lander, the first two of which failed to complete the mission as scheduled.
The "Odyssey" is named after the novel 2001: Space Odyssey by American futurist and science fiction master Clarke, and is about the same size as a sedan. Clarke has successfully predicted many of human scientific and technological achievements, such as the use of satellites for communication.
Although previous Mars exploration efforts have provided scientists with a lot of information, scientists have not yet fully understood what Mars is made of. So, the Odyssey rover carries 3 scientific instruments, including a thermal emission imaging system, a gamma-ray spectrometer and a Mars radiation environment tester, through which scientists will understand the composition of the Surface of Mars and its radiation environment.
The thermal three-engine imaging system will map mars in high resolution, helping scientists better understand the connection between Mars mineralogy and the Martian topography.
Gamma-ray spectrometers act as shovels for scientists to explore the surface of Mars, giving scientists the opportunity to see the subsurface of Mars. The spectrometer will determine the content of several elements, including hydrogen. Since hydrogen is most likely present in frozen water, spectroscopy is expected to detect traces of frozen water on the surface of Mars. This is the first time that scientists have equipped a Mars probe with instruments to detect surface water and mineral composition.
The Mars Radiation Environment Tester, a Russian-developed neutron probe, will measure the level of radioactive material on the surface of Mars for the first time and provide information to assess the hazards that astronauts may face when they land on Mars. The tester will collect data in orbit and on the surface of Mars, respectively.