Editing 2001 Mars Odyssey (section)

=== Major discoveries ===
{{further|Water on Mars}}

By 2008, ''Mars Odyssey'' had mapped the basic distribution of water below the shallow surface.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/latestresults.jsp|title=January, 2008: Hydrogen Map|publisher=Lunar & Planetary Lab at The University of Arizona|access-date=2015-06-30 |archive-date=2008-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013115534/http://grs.lpl.arizona.edu/latestresults.jsp|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ground truth for its measurements came on July 31, 2008, when NASA announced that the [[Phoenix lander]] confirmed the presence of water on Mars,<ref name="nasa-20080620">{{cite web | url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080620.html | title=Confirmation of Water on Mars | work=Phoenix Mars Lander | date=June 20, 2008 | publisher=NASA | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080701104400/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080620.html | archive-date=July 1, 2008 | url-status=live }}</ref> as predicted in 2002 based on data from the ''Odyssey'' orbiter. The science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for microscopic life, and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.<ref>{{Cite news |title=NASA's Phoenix touches, tastes Martian water |work=The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nasas-phoenix-touches-tastes-martian-water/articleshow/3313142.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2022-06-24}}</ref>

The orbiter also discovered vast deposits of bulk water ice near the surface of equatorial regions.<ref name='Jack Wilson'/> Evidence for equatorial hydration is both morphological and compositional and is seen at both the [[Medusae Fossae]] formation and the [[Tharsis Montes]].<ref name='Jack Wilson'/>

[[File:PIA26203-Mars-HorizonViews-OdysseyTHEMIS-20230509.webm|thumb|center|600px|<div align="center">Mars—horizon views (video; 1:24; Odyssey orbiter; [[Thermal Emission Imaging System|THEMIS camera]]; 9 May 2023)</div>]]