PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- NASA says it has initiated an orbital move of its longest-serving Mars spacecraft to prepare it for new scientific observations of the Red Planet.

The desired change, initiated by a maneuver Tuesday, will occur gradually until the intended new orbit geometry for the Mars Odyssey spacecraft is reached in November 2015 and another maneuver halts the drift, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., reported Thursday.

The move will enable observation of changing ground temperatures after sunrise and after sunset in thousands of places on Mars, NASA scientists said, providing the first systematic observations of how morning fogs, clouds and surface frost develop in different seasons on the Red Planet.

Odyssey, launched in 2011, is the longest-working spacecraft ever sent to Mars.

No NASA Mars orbiter has been in a position to observe morning daylight on Mars since the twin Viking orbiters of the 1970s.

"We're teaching an old spacecraft new tricks," JPL Odyssey Project Scientist Jeffrey Plaut said. "Odyssey will be in position to see Mars in a different light than ever before."

At the end of the orbit-adjustment maneuver, Odyssey will have about enough propellant left for nine to 10 years of operation at estimated annual consumption rates, NASA said.

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NASA moving orbit of spacecraft circling Mars to do new science