Posted on Monday, September 22, 2014
MAVEN's science mission can now start after its successful insertion into Mars orbit on September 21st, 2014 at 14:24 UTC.
After about 11 years from the initial inception of the idea for this mission, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft will soon be starting its one year scientific mission to find out more about the atmosphere of Mars and how both the atmosphere and water on Mars have disappeared over time, before going through six weeks of commissioning.
MAVEN's orbit is areocentric, meaning it's in orbit around the planet Mars ("areo-" prefix coming from the name of the Greek god of war Ares), with a period of 4.5 hours and nearest approach to Mars 150km and the furthest pint in it's orbit 6200km from Mars.
After about 11 years from the initial inception of the idea for this mission, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft will soon be starting its one year scientific mission to find out more about the atmosphere of Mars and how both the atmosphere and water on Mars have disappeared over time, before going through six weeks of commissioning.
MAVEN's orbit is areocentric, meaning it's in orbit around the planet Mars ("areo-" prefix coming from the name of the Greek god of war Ares), with a period of 4.5 hours and nearest approach to Mars 150km and the furthest pint in it's orbit 6200km from Mars.