Tag Archives: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN

MAVEN: Marvelous Martian

Posted on December 28, 2016 by rburnham

On Planetary Radio at The Planetary Society: MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter, has gone a long way toward solving the mystery of the Red Planet’s missing water and air. The University of Colorado’s Nick Schneider says it … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Ups & downs of water escape from Mars

Posted on October 19, 2016 by rburnham

After investigating the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet for a full Martian year, MAVEN has determined that escaping water does not always go gently into space. Sophisticated measurements made by a suite of instruments on the MAVEN spacecraft revealed … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: New view of Mars in ultraviolet

Posted on October 17, 2016 by rburnham

New global images of Mars from the MAVEN mission show the ultraviolet glow from the Martian atmosphere in unprecedented detail, revealing dynamic, previously invisible behavior. They include the first images of “nightglow” that can be used to show how winds … Continue reading →

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MAVEN completes one Mars year at Mars

Posted on October 4, 2016 by rburnham

Today [October 3], MAVEN has completed one Mars year of science observations. One Mars year is just under two Earth years. MAVEN launched on Nov. 18, 2013, and went into orbit around Mars on Sept. 21, 2014. During its time … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Tracing Mars atmospheric loss through time: the Three Devils

Posted on August 10, 2016 by rburnham

Why is the surface of Mars no longer habitable? Sounds like a straightforward question, right? However, those nine words comprise one of the most vexing questions in planetary science. There is now overwhelming evidence that Mars was once a place … Continue reading →

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MAVEN completes deep-dip campaign #6

Posted on August 4, 2016 by rburnham

After a week of busy orbit determinations and reconstructions, the MAVEN navigation team has reported that the 6th Deep Dip campaign of the mission has been a success. During the latest Deep Dip, Mars’ atmospheric density varied widely, from a … Continue reading →

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MAVEN begins deep-dip campaign #6

Posted on July 28, 2016 by rburnham

The MAVEN navigation team executed maneuvers on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week that provided a total delta-V (∆V) of 4.0 m/sec. to the spacecraft and lowered the periapsis (lowest altitude) by a total of 24.5 km to 120.5 km … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Mapping Mars’ upper atmosphere

Posted on July 14, 2016 by rburnham

High above the thin ‪Martian‬ skies, the ‪MAVEN‬ spacecraft is carrying out a mission: determine how Mars lost its early atmosphere, and with it, its water. MAVEN is currently executing the 9th stellar occultation campaign of the mission. These campaigns … Continue reading →

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MAVEN deep-dip maneuver #5 has begun

Posted on June 10, 2016 by rburnham

MAVEN‬ began its fifth “deep dip” campaign of the mission this week. Three maneuvers were successfully carried out to lower the periapsis (or lowest) altitude of the spacecraft by approximately 29 km, placing MAVEN into the targeted density corridor, where … Continue reading →

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MAVEN’s 5th deep-dip campaign begins June 6

Posted on June 3, 2016 by rburnham

MAVEN is the first spacecraft at Mars specifically designed to study the planet’s upper atmosphere. Its goal is to determine how Mars lost its water and its thick, early atmosphere to space. MAVEN’s elliptical orbit normally takes it from 6,200 … Continue reading →

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