Tag Archives: MAVEN

MAVEN: Second ‘walk-in’ maneuver succeeds

Posted on February 12, 2015 by rburnham

The second #MAVEN deep-dip maneuver was executed yesterday (Feb. 11, 2015), with a delta-v (∆V) of 0.6 m/sec., which lowered the periapsis of the spacecraft by another 4 km. The first maneuver was carried out on Tuesday (Feb. 10) and … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: First ‘walk-in’ maneuver successful

Posted on February 11, 2015 by rburnham

On February 10, MAVEN carried out its first walk-in maneuver of the current “deep-dip” campaign. This lowered the periapsis of the MAVEN spacecraft about 20 km to an altitude of about 133 km. The campaign will continue tomorrow with another … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Deep dips into atmosphere to begin soon

Posted on January 26, 2015 by rburnham

MAVEN will begin first ‘deep dip” campaign on February 10th. MAVEN’s primary mission includes five 5-day “deep-dip” campaigns, in which the periapsis (lowest point in the orbit) is lowered from about 93 miles (150 km) to about 77 miles (125 … Continue reading →

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MAVEN finds links in chain of atmospheric Loss

Posted on December 16, 2014 by rburnham

Early discoveries by NASA’s newest Mars orbiter are starting to reveal key features about the loss of the planet’s atmosphere to space over time… The observations reveal a new process by which the solar wind can penetrate deep into a … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Evolution of Mars

Posted on December 5, 2014 by rburnham

Mission summary article by Janet Luhmann, MAVEN Deputy Principal Investigator: Mars exploration has two distinctly human faces. One is focused on the deeper understanding of our solar system, and our place in it. How is it that the Earth ended … Continue reading →

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MAVEN Status update: December 3, 2014

Posted on December 4, 2014 by rburnham

MAVEN is now fully into its Science Phase at Mars and the scientists have been releasing exciting results, not the least of which were recent findings from the Comet Siding Spring encounter. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer was able to observe … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Out of safe mode, instruments off

Posted on November 24, 2014 by rburnham

November 22, 2014: After ground testing and careful review over the last two days, MAVEN was successfully brought out of Safehold Mode this afternoon. The spacecraft is operating nominally in Earth-Point Mode with high-rate communications… [More at link]

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MAVEN: Safing event, November 19

Posted on November 21, 2014 by rburnham

MAVEN went into safehold mode on Wednesday, November 19. The spacecraft goes into this state autonomously, when it detects a problem with its operations, to ensure that it stays safe and in contact with Earth. Safehold was triggered by a … Continue reading →

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MAVEN begins primary science mission

Posted on November 19, 2014 by rburnham

The MAVEN spacecraft completed its commissioning activities on November 16 and has formally begun its one-year primary science mission. The start of science is actually a “soft start”, in that the instruments started making science measurements beginning almost as soon … Continue reading →

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MAVEN relays Curiosity data, images to Earth

Posted on November 10, 2014 by rburnham

The newest node in NASA’s Mars telecommunications network — a radio aboard the MAVEN orbiter custom-designed for data links with robots on the surface of Mars — handled a copious 550 megabits during its first relay of real Mars data. … Continue reading →

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