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

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 11:48:47 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201310281848.r9SIml6u000054_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

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-
Received on Mon 28 Oct 2013 02:48:47 PM PDT