Posted: Thu, Aug 26, 2004, 1:21 PM ET (1721 GMT)
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, in orbit around the Red Planet for nearly three years, started a two-year extended mission on Wednesday. The spacecraft was launched in April 2001 and entered orbit around Mars six months later, beginning regular science observations in February 2002. The extended mission will keep the flow of data from the spacecraft going through September 2006. The spacecraft's cameras and spectrometers have studied the climate and surface composition of the planet, and also discovered evidence of subsurface water ice deposits in the planet's polar regions. Mars Odyssey has also been used as a communications relay, receiving transmissions from the two Mars Exploration Rovers and sending them on to Earth. The spacecraft will continue that role in its extended mission, and also study atmospheric conditions when NASA's next orbiter, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, arrives at the planet in 2006 and aerobrakes through the upper atmosphere to adjust its orbit. The extended mission will cost $35 million, about 12 percent of the original cost of the mission.

Related Links:

•  AP article
•  Pasadena Star-News article
•  NASA press release