(04/07/2001) --- Amid billows of smoke and steam the Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft leaves the Earth behind at Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Liftoff occurred at 11:02 a.m. EDT. The launch sends the Mars Odyssey on an approximate 7-month journey to orbit the planet Mars. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will map the Martian surface looking for geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past. Science gathered by three science instruments on board will be key to future missions to Mars, including orbital reconnaissance, lander and human missions