Mars Odyssey Enters Mars Orbit.

NASA returned to Mars Tuesday evening when the Mars Odyssey successfully entered orbit around the Red Planet. The spacecraft fired its engines at 0226 GMT (10:26pm EDT) for 20 minutes and then slipped behind Mars. Approximately 30 minutes later the spacecraft was reacquired by NASA controllers, indicating that the orbital injection had gone correctly. Odyssey will perform several more aerobraking maneuvers in the coming months until it has reached a circular orbit in early 2002. Then it will begin scanning the planet for evidence of subsurface water.