Post by glactus on Sept 16, 2008 22:33:03 GMT
While we may be going back to the Moon, there seems to be no effort spared and finance readily available in NASA'S scientific study and eventual conquest of the Red Planet.
The latest devlopment is "Marven"
marven trajectory
Did Mars once have a thick atmosphere? Could the climate on the Red Planet have supported water and possibly life in the past? These are the questions NASA hopes to answer in great detail with the newest orbiter mission to Mars. Called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, the $485 million mission is scheduled for launch in late 2013. MAVEN is part of the Mars Scout Program, which is designed to send a series of small, low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet.
The Marven spacecraft
The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first spacecraft selected in this program. "This mission will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars' evolution," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The Phoenix lander
Evidence from orbit and the planet's surface points to a once denser atmosphere on Mars that supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. As part of a dramatic climate change, most of the Martian atmosphere was lost. MAVEN will make definitive scientific measurements of present-day atmospheric loss that will offer clues about the planet's history.
Mars
Credits: This is part text only. See full text and all scientists involved at Universetoday.com
www.universetoday.com/2008/09/15/newest-mission-to-mars-maven/
Images by NASA
Article presenter: Nancy Atkinson
The latest devlopment is "Marven"
marven trajectory
Did Mars once have a thick atmosphere? Could the climate on the Red Planet have supported water and possibly life in the past? These are the questions NASA hopes to answer in great detail with the newest orbiter mission to Mars. Called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, the $485 million mission is scheduled for launch in late 2013. MAVEN is part of the Mars Scout Program, which is designed to send a series of small, low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet.
The Marven spacecraft
The Phoenix Mars Lander was the first spacecraft selected in this program. "This mission will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars' evolution," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
The Phoenix lander
Evidence from orbit and the planet's surface points to a once denser atmosphere on Mars that supported the presence of liquid water on the surface. As part of a dramatic climate change, most of the Martian atmosphere was lost. MAVEN will make definitive scientific measurements of present-day atmospheric loss that will offer clues about the planet's history.
Mars
Credits: This is part text only. See full text and all scientists involved at Universetoday.com
www.universetoday.com/2008/09/15/newest-mission-to-mars-maven/
Images by NASA
Article presenter: Nancy Atkinson
