If everything goes to plan, NASA will have another set of eyes on Mars this weekend.
The agency's "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution," or "MAVEN," spacecraft is set to arrive and begin orbiting the red planet Sunday at 9:50 p.m. EDT, completing a 10-month, 442-million-mile journey.
Unlike the Mars rovers Curiosity, Spirit, and Opportunity, MAVEN won't actually land on the Martian surface. Instead, NASA says the craft will remain in Mars' upper atmosphere, studying the properties of gases there and how they interact with solar wind. Specifically, scientists want to know what happened to Mars' atmosphere, which they believe was much thicker once and more like the atmosphere on Earth.
"The MAVEN science mission focuses on answering questions about where did the water that was present on early Mars go, about where did the carbon dioxide go,” Bruce Jakosky, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and MAVEN's pincipal investigator, said in a written statement. “These are important questions for understanding the history of Mars, its climate, and its potential to support at least microbial life.”
MAVEN will make initial contact with Mars above the planet's north pole. The craft will fire six engines for 33 minutes to slow the craft enough for it to be captured Mars' gravity. From there, MAVEN will move into a lower orbit around 90 miles above the planet's surface.
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An artist's rendering of the orbital insertion of NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft.
While MAVEN's primary mission is focused on Mars, in October it will take a unique look at a comet, known as "Siding Spring, as it flies by the planet.
The agency's "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution," or "MAVEN," spacecraft is set to arrive and begin orbiting the red planet Sunday at 9:50 p.m. EDT, completing a 10-month, 442-million-mile journey.
Unlike the Mars rovers Curiosity, Spirit, and Opportunity, MAVEN won't actually land on the Martian surface. Instead, NASA says the craft will remain in Mars' upper atmosphere, studying the properties of gases there and how they interact with solar wind. Specifically, scientists want to know what happened to Mars' atmosphere, which they believe was much thicker once and more like the atmosphere on Earth.
"The MAVEN science mission focuses on answering questions about where did the water that was present on early Mars go, about where did the carbon dioxide go,” Bruce Jakosky, a professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder and MAVEN's pincipal investigator, said in a written statement. “These are important questions for understanding the history of Mars, its climate, and its potential to support at least microbial life.”
MAVEN will make initial contact with Mars above the planet's north pole. The craft will fire six engines for 33 minutes to slow the craft enough for it to be captured Mars' gravity. From there, MAVEN will move into a lower orbit around 90 miles above the planet's surface.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
While MAVEN's primary mission is focused on Mars, in October it will take a unique look at a comet, known as "Siding Spring, as it flies by the planet.
