Mission managers said their data was preliminary and that a full analysis would be available later in the evening, likely early morning East Coast time, but all indications -- including the smiles on mission managers faces -- indicated that Odyssey was sailing smoothly.

But there were a few tense moments. After Odyssey's main engine was expected to kick in, which began the insertion, the craft's status was not known for about 5 minutes.

"That was a little longer than expected," said Robert Mase, navigation team leader. "That was a bit of a nail biter."

Then Odyssey zoomed around Mars and went out of radio contact. One of several Earth tracking stations made contact with the craft roughly 11 seconds after the planned time -- well within expected limits, officials said.

The craft's emergence from behind Mars marks the first success in three tries by NASA to put a spacecraft on or near Mars.

More work is ahead to get Odyssey into its final, proper orbit. But officials at NASA and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission, were excited and relieved after having spent months going over mission plans and the spacecraft's vital signs with unprecedented scrutiny to ensure every opportunity for success. Odyssey is a mission they cannot afford to botch, given the 1999 failures of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander.

Outgoing NASA chief Dan Goldin hugged JPL director Charles Elachi after a cheer went up at mission control. Several other top managers hugged each other. An American flag hung on the wall above several rows of computers.

"This was a healing experience for us," said Ed Sedivy, chief engineer for Odyssey at Lockheed Martin, which had also built the two craft that were lost in 1999.

"It's been two years waiting for redemption," Sedivy said. "It's there. We made it," he said.

Mission managers are still evaluating data sent back by Odyssey, and SPACE.com will provide further updates as the health of the craft and the details of its trajectory are analyzed by NASA. A press conference at JPL has been planned 1 p.m. ET, Wednesday, Oct. 24. [See details on our Odyssey Special Report page.]

Sedivy said the next step is to determine Odyssey's exact orbit as it swings about Mars. Preliminary analysis did not indicate whether the spacecraft's engine under or over-performed. "The better the orbit, the better the science, he said.

By being in an exact, hoped-for orbit, less fuel will be needed to start the upcoming series of aerobraking maneuvers. On the other hand, a higher orbit around Mars means precious amounts of propellant would be required to lower Odyssey so it can start aerobraking maneuvers.

The engine fired for nearly 20 minutes as Odyssey looped behind Mars. At about 10:56 p.m., Odyssey emerged and antennas associated with NASA's Deep Space Network locked on to the spacecraft's carrier signal. [See minute-by-minute account of events.]

The orbit insertion was considered to be the second of three crucial procedures needed to secure a successful beginning to the science portion of the mission. The first critical step was the launch, which occurred on April 7, and the third will be a weeks-long aerobraking procedure that will gradually slow the craft down and pull it into a final orbital position some 400 kilometers (about 250 miles) above the surface.

SPECIAL REPORT: Full Coverage of the Odyssey Mission to Mars