Oct 31 2001
From The Space Library
NASA’s Mars Odyssey provided its first image from its orbit around the Red Planet. Odyssey took the image as part of a calibration process for the spacecraft’s thermal-emission imaging system, which NASA had designed to observe the surface of Mars in both light and darkness. The initial image, a thermal infrared image of the planet’s southern polar carbon-dioxide ice cap, covered an area greater than 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) at a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers (3.4 miles) per pixel. (NASA, “Mars Odyssey’s First Look at Mars Is All Treat, No Trick,” news release 01-214, 31 October 2001.)
The government of France named NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin as Officer of the Legion of Honor, the country’s highest award. Napoleon had created the Legion of Honor in 1802 to honor civil and military service to France. The award honored Goldin for his contribution to the cooperation of France and the United States in space endeavors. NASA and the French space agency, Centre National d’Études Spatiales, had collaborated on Earth observation and Mars exploration, and French astronauts had flown on the Space Shuttle. Ambassador François Bujon de l’Éstang presented the award to Goldin at the residence of the French Ambassador. (NASA, “NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin Receives French Legion of Honor Award,” news release 0 1-202, 31 October 2001.)
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