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NASA Selects Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere (MAVEN)



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 16th 08, 10:28 PM posted to sci.space.policy
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1
Default NASA Selects Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere (MAVEN)

On Sep 15, 1:38*pm, wrote:
Sept. 15, 2008

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726


RELEASE: 08-233

NASA SELECTS MISSION TO STUDY MARS ATMOSPHERE

WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected a Mars robotic mission that will
provide information about the Red Planet's atmosphere, climate
history and potential habitability in greater detail than ever
before.

Called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft,
the $485 million mission is scheduled for launch in late 2013. The
selection was evaluated to have the best science value and lowest
implementation risk from 20 mission investigation proposals submitted
in response to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity in August 2006.

"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.

Mars once had a denser atmosphere 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.

"The loss of Mars' atmosphere has been an ongoing mystery,"
McCuistion
said. "MAVEN will help us solve it."

The principal investigator for the mission is Bruce Jakosky of the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. The university will receive $6 million to fund
mission planning and technology development during the next year.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will manage the
project. Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., will build the
spacecraft based on designs from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
and 2001 Mars Odyssey missions. The team will begin mission design
and implementation in the fall of 2009.

Launched in August 2005, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a
multipurpose spacecraft that carries the most powerful telescopic
camera ever flown to another planet. The camera can show Martian
landscape features as small as a kitchen table from low orbital
altitudes. The mission is examining potential landing sites for
future surface missions and providing a communications relay for
other Mars spacecraft.

The 2001 Mars Odyssey, launched in April of that year, is determining
the composition of the Red Planet's surface by searching for water
and shallow buried ice. The spacecraft also is studying the planet's
radiation environment.

After arriving at Mars in the fall of 2014, MAVEN will use its
propulsion system to enter an elliptical orbit ranging 90 to 3,870
miles above the planet. The spacecraft's eight science instruments
will take measurements during a full Earth year, which is roughly
equivalent to half of a Martian year. MAVEN also will dip to an
altitude 80 miles above the planet to sample Mars' entire upper
atmosphere. During and after its primary science mission, the
spacecraft may be used to provide communications relay support for
robotic missions on the Martian surface.

"MAVEN will obtain critical measurements that the National Academy of
Science listed as being of high priority in their 2003 decadal survey
on planetary exploration," said Michael Meyer, the Mars chief
scientist at NASA Headquarters. "This field of study also was
highlighted in the 2005 NASA Roadmap for New Science of the Sun-Earth
System Connection."

The Mars Scout Program is designed to send a series of small,
low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet. The
Phoenix Mars Lander was the first spacecraft selected. Phoenix landed
on the icy northern polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. The
spacecraft completed its prime science mission on Aug. 25, 2008. The
mission has been extended through Sept. 30.

NASA's Mars Exploration Program seeks to characterize and understand
Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment,
climate cycles, geology and biological potential.

For more information about NASA's exploration of Mars, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mars

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-


  #2  
Old September 17th 08, 01:44 AM posted to sci.space.policy
BradGuth
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 21,544
Default NASA Selects Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere (MAVEN)

On Sep 16, 2:28 pm, wrote:
On Sep 15, 1:38 pm, wrote:

Sept. 15, 2008


Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726


RELEASE: 08-233


NASA SELECTS MISSION TO STUDY MARS ATMOSPHERE


WASHINGTON -- NASA has selected a Mars robotic mission that will
provide information about the Red Planet's atmosphere, climate
history and potential habitability in greater detail than ever
before.


Called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft,
the $485 million mission is scheduled for launch in late 2013. The
selection was evaluated to have the best science value and lowest
implementation risk from 20 mission investigation proposals submitted
in response to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity in August 2006.


"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.


Mars once had a denser atmosphere 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.


"The loss of Mars' atmosphere has been an ongoing mystery,"
McCuistion
said. "MAVEN will help us solve it."


The principal investigator for the mission is Bruce Jakosky of the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. The university will receive $6 million to fund
mission planning and technology development during the next year.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will manage the
project. Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., will build the
spacecraft based on designs from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
and 2001 Mars Odyssey missions. The team will begin mission design
and implementation in the fall of 2009.


Launched in August 2005, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a
multipurpose spacecraft that carries the most powerful telescopic
camera ever flown to another planet. The camera can show Martian
landscape features as small as a kitchen table from low orbital
altitudes. The mission is examining potential landing sites for
future surface missions and providing a communications relay for
other Mars spacecraft.


The 2001 Mars Odyssey, launched in April of that year, is determining
the composition of the Red Planet's surface by searching for water
and shallow buried ice. The spacecraft also is studying the planet's
radiation environment.


After arriving at Mars in the fall of 2014, MAVEN will use its
propulsion system to enter an elliptical orbit ranging 90 to 3,870
miles above the planet. The spacecraft's eight science instruments
will take measurements during a full Earth year, which is roughly
equivalent to half of a Martian year. MAVEN also will dip to an
altitude 80 miles above the planet to sample Mars' entire upper
atmosphere. During and after its primary science mission, the
spacecraft may be used to provide communications relay support for
robotic missions on the Martian surface.


"MAVEN will obtain critical measurements that the National Academy of
Science listed as being of high priority in their 2003 decadal survey
on planetary exploration," said Michael Meyer, the Mars chief
scientist at NASA Headquarters. "This field of study also was
highlighted in the 2005 NASA Roadmap for New Science of the Sun-Earth
System Connection."


The Mars Scout Program is designed to send a series of small,
low-cost, principal investigator-led missions to the Red Planet. The
Phoenix Mars Lander was the first spacecraft selected. Phoenix landed
on the icy northern polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. The
spacecraft completed its prime science mission on Aug. 25, 2008. The
mission has been extended through Sept. 30.


NASA's Mars Exploration Program seeks to characterize and understand
Mars as a dynamic system, including its present and past environment,
climate cycles, geology and biological potential.


For more information about NASA's exploration of Mars, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov/mars


For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:


http://www.nasa.gov


-end-


And yet another DARPA orchestrated form of mainstream damage-control,
pondering over and over a very inert and thus faith-based kind of
failsafe planet. God forbid they should take another look-see at
Venus, or even a much needed robotic landing and easily interactive
science expedition on our Selene/moon.

~ Brad Guth Brad_Guth Brad.Guth BradGuth BG
 




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