[meteorite-list] Thumbs Up Given for 2013 NASA Mars Orbiter (Maven)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 10:43:44 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201010051743.o95Hhif4013560_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-323

Thumbs Up Given for 2013 NASA Mars Orbiter
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
October 05, 2010

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA has given a green light for development of a
2013 Mars orbiter mission to investigate the mystery of how Mars lost
much of its atmosphere: the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution
(Maven) mission.

Clues on the Martian surface, such as features resembling dry riverbeds
and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water, suggest
that Mars once had a denser atmosphere, which 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
insight into the Red Planet's history.

Approval to proceed with development followed a review at NASA
Headquarters of the detailed plans, instrument suite, budget, and risk
factor analysis for the spacecraft.

The mission is led by its principal investigator, Bruce Jakosky of the
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of
Colorado, Boulder. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
manages the mission, which is part of the NASA Mars Exploration Program
managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Received on Tue 05 Oct 2010 01:43:44 PM PDT