WASHINGTON, Oct 24: NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey successfully entered orbit around the planet Mars on Tuesday after completing a six-month journey from Earth.

2001 Mars Odyssey fired its main engine at 7:26 p.m. Pacific time and entered orbit, after which it disappeared behind the planet, leaving NASA’s controllers without radio signal for nearly five hours.

However, when the craft emerged 4 hours and 56 minutes later, completing its first orbit the ground controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, let out a huge cheer of relief and celebration. The firing of the main engine for 20 minutes slowed the spacecraft’s speed and allowed it to be captured by Mars’ gravity into an egg-shaped elliptical orbit around the planet.

A NASA press release said, “In the weeks and months ahead, the spacecraft will repeatedly brush against the top of the atmosphere in a process called aerobraking.

“Orbit insertion is our single most critical event during the mission, and we are glad it’s behind us,” said David A. Spencer, Odyssey’s mission manager at JPL. “But we cannot rest on our laurels. The aerobraking phase will be a demanding, around-the-clock operation, and it requires the flight team to react as the atmosphere of Mars changes.”—dpa