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This map of Mars from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter shows relative locations of three types of findings related to salt or frozen water, plus a new type of finding that may be related to both salt and water.
A gold-colored spacecraft orbits over Mars, with a dish antenna extending from its top, a spindly boom extending from the front of it toward the viewer, and a large three-paneled solar array attached vertically to its left side. Mars appears as a dusty tan color covering the lower half of the frame, with patches of white at its top, against a black sky flecked with stars in the upper frame.

Odyssey Celebrates
25 Years at Mars

No mission has been active at Mars longer than 2001 Mars Odyssey, which launched on April 7, 2001, and arrived at the Red Planet on Oct. 24, 2001. After several months of commissioning, Odyssey began sending its first science data on Feb. 19, 2002.

The Mars Odyssey mission was the first to provide global maps showing the elemental composition of the Martian surface and how much water was present within the top 3 feet (1 meter) of the surface. Odyssey’s THEMIS camera has provided more than 1 million images that scientists use to study geologic features and identify potential landing sites. Additionally, Odyssey has been a key part of the Mars Relay Network, sending data from NASA’s rovers and landers back to Earth.

Odyssey Team Celebrates on a Global Map of Mars

A group of several dozen scientists and engineers pose together, standing atop an auditorium-size colorful map of the Martian globe that shows patches of blue, green, red, and yellow.
Team members past and present from NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter mission gathered on April 15, 2026, to celebrate 25 years since the spacecraft’s launch, which took place April 7, 2001. For the occasion, the team rolled out a giant global map of Mars created using imagery from Odyssey’s THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) infrared camera. The celebration took place at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads the mission.
NASA/JPL-Caltech

Image Gallery

The Best of Odyssey

Explore a greatest-hits collection from the more than 1 million images Odyssey has captured in its 25-year mission to the Red Planet (some of them in other colors — like this thumbnail view of a highland region of Mars, Terra Sirenum, colorized to reveal different elements in the terrain).

Odyssey’s THEMIS Views the Horizon of Mars

This unusual view of the horizon of Mars was captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter using its THEMIS camera, in an operation that took engineers three months to plan.
This unusual view of the horizon of Mars was captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter using its THEMIS camera, in an operation that took engineers three months to plan.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Learn the effort required to capture this Mars horizon panorama

Odyssey Above the Grand Canyon of Mars

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University
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