NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, MAVEN, spacecraft will launch on Nov. 18 and will begin its journey to Mars. The MAVEN spacecraft will examine the upper atmosphere and ionosphere of Mars as well as the effects of the sun and solar wind. MAVEN hopes to answer some questions about Mars including the loss of atmosphere, change in climate and the disappearance of water from the planet.
Mars and Earth started out quite similar, with the red planet once having a thick atmosphere and plenty of flowing water, notes NASA. Around four billion years ago, Mars was warm and had flowing water and NASA believes that was due to a thick atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.That has all changed and Mars is a barren planet with a thin atmosphere. According to NASA, the biggest riddle involves the dramatic climate change and MAVEN will be used to test some theories that attempt to solve the Martian mystery. One theory involves the sun causing, in some way, gas to escape from the planet’s upper atmosphere. Because Mars does not have an electromagnetic field to shiled the planet from solar wind, the sun may have gradually stripped Mars of its atmospheric "blanket."
According to NASA, other Mars missions, including orbiters and rovers, such as Curiosity, have explored the planet looking for evidence of water or life while the upper atmosphere has yet to be examined. Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN’s primary researcher, said in a statement, “You can't hope, with a single spacecraft, to study all aspects and to learn everything there is to know about it. With MAVEN, we're exploring the single biggest unexplored piece of Mars so far.”
MAVEN will be equipped with three different instrument suites, a Particles and Fields Package, PFP; a Remote Sensing Package; and the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, NGIMS. According to NASA, the PFP will feature six instruments, to analyze solar wind, the Remote Sensing Package will be used to explore Mars’ upper atmosphere and ionosphere, a region of weakly ionized gas, and the NGIMS will be used to determine the composition and isotopes, elements with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons, of neutral, or inert, gases.
The MAVEN spacecraft has already been hoisted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket and NASA expects the spacecraft to reach Mars by Sept. 22, 2014. On Nov. 15, the final mission review was performed and the spacecraft was cleared for launch. The launch is scheduled for a 1:28 p.m. EST launch with a 2-hour window.
Prior to launch, NASA has scheduled a broadcast for viewers to learn more about MAVEN and the new Mars mission as well as a PSA from LeVar Burton. The broadcast begins at 2 p.m EST, 11 a.m. PST and can be viewed below.
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NASA’s MAVEN Spacecraft Is A Go: Mars Mission Hopes To Answer Some Red Planet Riddles
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