Science! By Ryan Whitwam Sep. 22, 2014 1:27 pm
It’s the rovers that get all the attention, but NASA’s newest Mars mission will never touch the surface of the Red Planet. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) space probe was launched in November of 2013 and it finally reached its target yesterday. NASA reports MAVEN successfully inserted into orbit, and is ready to begin its mission. With MAVEN, NASA hopes to learn why the Mars of today is so cold and dry.
Scientists have long suspected that Mars was once a far wetter world than it is today. The surface appears to have been shaped by flowing water and it still has ice caps at the poles. The Mars we know today has a very thin atmosphere composed mostly of carbon dioxide, which doesn’t insulate the surface very well. Mars is towards the outside of the so-called Goldilocks Zone where liquid water can exist, but it might have been quite pleasant temperature wise in the past with a thicker atmosphere.
Over the next six weeks, MAVEN will carefully maneuver to its final science orbit where it can begin analyzing the upper atmosphere. These measurements will tell NASA about the composition, structure, and the escape of gases in Mars’ atmosphere. The primary mission is only a year in length, during which time MAVEN will perform several deep dives into the Martian atmosphere. The probe will skim through the atmosphere just 77 miles (150 km) above the surface of the planet. This will help the team understand the border between the upper and lower atmosphere.
As with most Mars missions, the primary role of MAVEN is short–just one year. However, if it continues working past that time, there’s no reason it can’t continue to be useful as NASA continues to plan for a future manned mission to the planet in the 2030s.
Now read: Curiosity rover has just reached Mars’ Mount Sharp
More...
Scientists have long suspected that Mars was once a far wetter world than it is today. The surface appears to have been shaped by flowing water and it still has ice caps at the poles. The Mars we know today has a very thin atmosphere composed mostly of carbon dioxide, which doesn’t insulate the surface very well. Mars is towards the outside of the so-called Goldilocks Zone where liquid water can exist, but it might have been quite pleasant temperature wise in the past with a thicker atmosphere.
Over the next six weeks, MAVEN will carefully maneuver to its final science orbit where it can begin analyzing the upper atmosphere. These measurements will tell NASA about the composition, structure, and the escape of gases in Mars’ atmosphere. The primary mission is only a year in length, during which time MAVEN will perform several deep dives into the Martian atmosphere. The probe will skim through the atmosphere just 77 miles (150 km) above the surface of the planet. This will help the team understand the border between the upper and lower atmosphere.
As with most Mars missions, the primary role of MAVEN is short–just one year. However, if it continues working past that time, there’s no reason it can’t continue to be useful as NASA continues to plan for a future manned mission to the planet in the 2030s.
Now read: Curiosity rover has just reached Mars’ Mount Sharp
More...
