Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE 818-354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. March 11, 2009
guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov

Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report
Spacecraft Reboots Successfully

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter properly followed commands today to shut
down and restart, a strategy by its engineers to clear any memory flaws accumulated in more than five
years since Odyssey's last reboot.

The procedure also restored Odyssey's onboard set of backup systems, called the spacecraft's "B side,"
allowing its use in the future when necessary.

"For nearly two years, we have not known for certain whether the backup systems would be usable, so
this successful reboot has allowed us to ascertain their health and availability for future use," said
Odyssey Project Manager Philip Varghese of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Odyssey has been orbiting Mars since 2001 and has never switched from its primary set of
components, the "A side," to the backup set, which includes an identical computer processor,
navigation sensors, relay radio and other components. In March 2006, the B-side spare of a component
for managing the distribution of power became inoperable. Analysis by engineers identified a
possibility that rebooting Odyssey might restore that component, which proved to be a side benefit of
today's procedure to refresh onboard memory.

The Odyssey team began a series of steps after the reboot to carefully return the spacecraft to full
functioning over the next few days. Following that path, the science instruments will be back to
studying Mars by next week.

An unexpected rise in temperature of the star camera in Odyssey's navigation system on March 9 had
prompted a postponement of the rebooting originally scheduled for the next day. Engineers identified
the cause as a heater circuit that was temporarily stuck "on." The circuit was turned off before today's
reboot.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Odyssey for the
NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the
prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. Additional information about Odyssey is at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/odyssey .

#2009-046

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