MAVEN
 Artist's Concept of MAVEN. Credit: NASA. |
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| Operator | NASA |
|---|---|
| Major contractors | Lockheed Martin Space Systems, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of California, Berkeley, Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Mission type | Orbiter |
| Satellite of | Mars |
| Launch date | Not launched yet Launch window between November 18, 2013 and December 7, 2013 |
| Launch vehicle | Atlas V 401 |
| Mission duration | One Earth year |
| Homepage | Maven mission |
| Mass | 903 kilograms (1,990 lb) |
| Power | Solar photovoltaic |
| Orbital elements | |
| Inclination | 75° |
| Periapsis | 140-170 km |
| Orbital period | 4.5 hours |
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) is a planned space exploration mission to send a space probe to orbit Mars. Scientists conducting the mission will study the atmosphere of Mars. The principal investigator for MAVEN is Bruce Jakosky of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
It was spawned by NASA's Mars Scout Program, which although discontinued in 2010, yielded Phoenix and MAVEN, as well as numerous missions studies. [1] Mars Scout missions target a cost less than USD$485 million. The FY2013 Budget President Obama released on February 13, 2012 indicated this is the only future Mars mission currently funded by the United States.[2]
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[edit] Program overview
On September 15, 2008 NASA announced that it had selected MAVEN to be the Mars Scout 2013 mission, a part of the Mars Scout Program.[3][4] There was one other finalist and eight other proposals that were competing against MAVEN to be the Mars Scout 2013 mission. MAVEN will be launched in late 2013 and is planned to enter Mars orbit during the fall of 2014. MAVEN will enter into an elliptic orbit 90 to 3,870 miles above the planet's surface. MAVEN will cost US$485 million. It will focus on collecting data about the Martian atmosphere.
MAVEN will have four primary scientific objectives:
- Determine the role that loss of volatiles to space from the Mars atmosphere has played through time.
- Determine the current state of the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the solar wind.
- Determine the current rates of escape of neutral gases and ions to space and the processes controlling them.
- Determine the ratios of stable isotopes in the Martian atmosphere.[5]
MAVEN's measurements will provide additional scientific context with which to test models for current methane formation in Mars.[6] NASA will launch MAVEN using an Atlas V 401.[7] The launch window is between November 18, 2013 and December 7, 2013. Assuming a November 18 launch, MAVEN will be inserted into Mars orbit on September 16, 2014.
[edit] Hardware overview
MAVEN's design will be based on those of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Lockheed Martin Space Systems will build and test the spacecraft.
[edit] Scientific instruments
MAVEN will study Mars' upper atmosphere and how it interacts with the Sun. It will carry instruments to measure characteristics of Mars' atmospheric gases, upper atmosphere, solar wind, and ionosphere.[8] University of Colorado Boulder, University of California, Berkeley and Goddard Space Flight Center will each build a suite of instruments to fly on the spacecraft.
The instrument suites will include:
- Particles and Field (P&F) Package
- Built by the University of California, Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory.
- Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)-Measures solar wind and ionospheric electrons
- Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA)-Measures solar wind and magnetosheath ion density and velocity
- Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC)-Measures thermal ions to moderate-energy escaping ions
- Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)-Determines the impact of SEPs on the upper atmosphere
- Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW)-Determines ionospheric properties and wave heating of escaping ions and solar EUV input to atmosphere
- Magnetometer (MAG)-Measures interplanetary solar wind and ionospheric magnetic fields
- Remote Sensing (RS) Package
- Built by the University of Colorado Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
- Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer (IUVS)-Measures global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere
- Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) Package
- Built by Goddard Space Flight Center
- To measure the composition and isotopes of neutral gases and ions
[edit] See also
- Atmosphere of Mars
- Mars Next Generation (a proposed orbiter)
- Mars Scout Program
- Mars Trace Gas Mission
- New Frontiers Program
- Space weather
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: MAVEN |
- ^ NASA's Scout Program Discontinued.
- ^ An agency-by-agency guide to Obama’s proposed budget for FY2013.
- ^ NASA Selects 'MAVEN' Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere
- ^ "Thumbs Up Given for 2013 NASA Mars Orbiter". NASA - JPL. October 05, 2010. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-323. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
- ^ MAVEN Fact Sheet
- ^ "Mars Methane Questions Answered". Science channel. http://science.discovery.com/stories/mars/questions/questions.html. Retrieved 2009-11-14.
- ^ "NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for MAVEN Mission". SpaceRef. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=31905. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
- ^ CU chosen for $485M Mars exploration project
[edit] External links
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