[meteorite-list] NASA Prepares to Launch First Mission to Explore Martian Atmosphere (MAVEN)

[Ron Baalke]

October 28, 2013

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown at nasa.gov 

Nancy Neal Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
301-286-0039
nancy.n.jones at nasa.gov 
     
RELEASE 13-315
     
NASA Prepares to Launch First Mission to Explore Martian Atmosphere

A NASA spacecraft that will examine the upper atmosphere of Mars in  
unprecedented detail is undergoing final preparations for a scheduled 1:28  
p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 18 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in  
Florida.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) will examine  
specific processes on Mars that led to the loss of much of its atmosphere.  
Data and analysis could tell planetary scientists the history of climate  
change on the Red Planet and provide further information on the history of  
planetary habitability.

"The MAVEN mission is a significant step toward unraveling the planetary  
puzzle about Mars' past and present environments," said John Grunsfeld,  
associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.  
"The knowledge we gain will build on past and current missions examining Mars  
and will help inform future missions to send humans to Mars."

The 5,410-pound spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas  
V 401 rocket on a 10-month journey to Mars. After arriving at Mars in  
September 2014, MAVEN will settle into its elliptical science orbit.

Over the course of its one-Earth-year primary mission, MAVEN will observe all  
of Mars' latitudes. Altitudes will range from 93 miles to more than 3,800  
miles. During the primary mission, MAVEN will execute five deep dip  
maneuvers, descending to an altitude of 78 miles. This marks the lower  
boundary of the planet's upper atmosphere.

"Launch is an important event, but it's only a step along the way to getting  
the science measurements," said Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator at the  
University of Colorado, Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space  
Physics (CU/LASP) in Boulder. "We're excited about the science we'll be  
doing, and are anxious now to get to Mars."

The MAVEN spacecraft will carry three instrument suites. The Particles and  
Fields Package, provided by the University of California at Berkeley with  
support from CU/LASP and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,  
Md., contains six instruments to characterize the solar wind and the  
ionosphere of Mars. The Remote Sensing Package, built by CU/LASP, will  
determine global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The  
Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, built by Goddard, will measure the  
composition of Mars' upper atmosphere.

"When we proposed and were selected to develop MAVEN back in 2008, we set our  
sights on Nov. 18, 2013, as our first launch opportunity," said Dave  
Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at Goddard. "Now we are poised to launch on  
that very day. That's quite an accomplishment by the team."

MAVEN's principal investigator is based at CU/LASP. The university provided  
science instruments and leads science operations, as well as education and  
public outreach, for the mission.

Goddard manages the project and provided two of the science instruments for  
the mission. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and is responsible for  
mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley's Space Sciences  
Laboratory provided science instruments for the mission. NASA's Jet  
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, Deep  
Space Network support, and Electra telecommunications relay hardware and  
operations.

For more information about the MAVEN mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/maven 

and

http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/ 

-end-