How many years did to prepare the 2001 Mars Odyssey Spacecraft?
Official proposals for the spacecraft instruments were submitted over four years ago, but much of the design and preparation had been going on for years before that. Many of the people who worked on the spacecraft and instruments have worked on previous missions, and that knowledge was used to design the current mission. Without that prior experience, the odyssey would not have been nearly as successful. In reality, the odyssey mission probably had more than a decade in preparation. Scott Nowicki Graduate Research Assistant Arizona State University QUESTION: How fast can the odyssey spacecraft travel ANSWER: During cruise (when it was going between Earth and Mars) Odyssey was moving at about 60,000 miles an hour. It has slowed down significantly now that it is in orbit around Mars.
