Record-Setting Mars Odyssey Orbiter Launched 15 Years Ago Today

A long-lived NASA Mars spacecraft began its record-setting Red Planet mission 15 years ago today. On April 7, 2001, the Mars Odyssey orbiter blasted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, kicking off a mission designed to hunt for water ice and study the Red Planet's geology and radiation environment. In December 2010, Odyssey became the longest-serving Mars spacecraft in history, and it's still going strong today.