MAVEN , NASA ’s next space vehicle launching tothe Red Planetin just three day sentence on November 18th , seek to unlock one of the greatest Martian mystery : Where did all the water go ?
From the accumulated evidence so far scientists think that billion of years ago , Marswas endow with a heavyset atmosphere like Earth and melted water flowed across the surface .
The Red Planet was far bluer , warmer , surfactant and hospitable to life four billion years ago – truly a flock more Earth - like .
And then Mars lose its ambience start somewhere around 3.5 to 3.7 Billion years ago . As the aura cut and the pressure decreased , the body of water evaporate and Mars evolve into the cold desiccate world we know today .
But why and on the dot when did Mars undergo such a basal climatic transformation ?
“ Where did the water go and where did the carbon dioxide go from the early aura ? What were the mechanisms ? ” necessitate Bruce Jakosky , MAVEN ’s Principal Investigator from the University of Colorado at Boulder .
Although there are lots of theories , NASA ’s MAVEN Mars artificial satellite – which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – is the first veridical endeavor to investigating these fundamental questions that retain the key to solving the Martian mysteries perplexing the science biotic community .
“ We do n’t sleep together the number one wood of the change , ” explicate Jakosky .
By studying and sympathize specific cognitive operation in the upper atmosphere of Mars , MAVEN ’s seeks to determine how and why Mars ’ air and water disappeared gazillion of age ago and what force that had on the story of climate variety and habitableness . [ At left : MAVEN Mated to Atlas . On November 8th , 2013 , NASA ’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution , or MAVEN spacecraft , is hoist to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41 . acknowledgment : NASA / Kim Shiflett ]
“ The major questions about the history of Mars eye on the history of its mood and atmosphere and how that ’s mold the surface , geology and the possibility for lifespan , ” says Jakosky .
MAVEN is fit with three instrumental role suites carry nine science instruments .
MAVEN will focus on empathise the history of the atmosphere , how the climate has convert through time , and how that determine the evolution of the airfoil and the potential for habitableness by germ on Mars .
“ That ’s what aim our geographic expedition of Mars with MAVEN , ” said Jakosky
The 5,400 pound MAVEN investigation carries nine sensors in three instrument suites .
The Particles and Fields Package , leave by the University of California at Berkeley with support from CU / LASP and NASA ’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt , Maryland , contains six instruments to characterize the solar wind and the ionosphere of Mars . The Remote Sensing Package , build by CU / LASP , will find global characteristics of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere . The Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer , built by Goddard , will assess the composition of Mars ’ upper standard atmosphere . [ MAVEN Spacecraft Positioned Atop Atlas V Rocket at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral . Credit : NASA . ]
I personally inspected MAVEN inside the clean elbow room at the Kennedy Space Center on September 27th with fellow journalists when the solar arrays were fully unfurled .
The probe spanned 37 feet in distance from wingtip to wingtip .
Since then , MAVEN has been folded and encapsulated inside the cargo fairing , enrapture to the inkpad at Launch Complex 41 and run up on top of the Atlas cinque Eruca vesicaria sativa on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ( CCAFS ) in Florida .
The $ 671 Million MAVEN spacecraft has been powered on and look liftoff .
MAVEN is the second of two Mars bound probes launching from Earth this November .
India ’s Mars Orbiter Mission ( MOM)spacecraft staged aspectacular lift - offfrom the Native American spaceport on November 5th . Both probe are due to get in at the Red Planet in September 2014 .
persist tune here for continuing MAVEN and MOM intelligence andKen’sMAVEN launch reports from on site at the Kennedy Space Center press site .
Ken Kremer
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take more about MAVEN , MOM , Mars rovers , Orion and more atKen’supcoming presentations :
Nov 14 - 20 : “ MAVEN Mars Launch and Curiosity Explores Mars , Orion and NASA ’s Future ” , Kennedy Space Center Quality Inn , Titusville , FL , 8:00 pm
Dec 11 : “ Curiosity , MAVEN and the Search for Life on Mars ” , “ LADEE & Antares ISS launch from Virginia”,Rittenhouse Astronomical Society , Franklin Institute , Philadelphia , PA , 8:00 pm
This position in the beginning appeared atUniverse Today . It has been republish with permit .
AstronomyGeochemistryMarsMAVENScienceSpaceWater
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