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MAVEN to Explore Upper Atmosphere of Mars

November 15, 2013

MAVEN, which stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, is a new NASA spacecraft embarking on a mission to study Mars' upper atmosphere, seeking to learn how the atmosphere and environment changed over time.

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NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft went through weeks of processing to ensure it was ready for a 10-month trip to the Red Planet. Watch as time-lapse video condense...
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MAVEN Processing in Minutes
MAVEN Processing in Minutes
MAVEN was launched into a Hohmann Transfer Orbit with periapsis at Earth’s orbit and apoapsis at the distance of the orbit of Mars. The spacecraft will travel more than 180 degrees around the Sun i...
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MAVEN was launched into a Hohmann Transfer Orbit with periapsis at Earth's orbit and apoapsis at the distance of the orbit of Mars. The spacecraft will travel more than 180 degrees around the Sun in its transfer orbit, which requires 10 months to set the stage for Mars Orbit Insertion in September 2014.
Hohmann Transfer Orbit
For optimal performance, it’s important for the high-gain antenna to maintain a consistent temperature while the spacecraft experiences large temperature swings from being exposed to the Sun or in ...
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For optimal performance, it's important for the high-gain antenna to maintain a consistent temperature while the spacecraft experiences large temperature swings from being exposed to the Sun or in the eclipse behind Mars.
MAVEN High-Gain Antenna WIth Radome
MAVEN selfie composite, annotated
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This is an annotated selfie of the MAVEN spacecraft.
MAVEN Selfie Composite, Annotated
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a 1...
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The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a 10-month journey to the Red Planet.
MAVEN on Its Way
MAVEN Launching.
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MAVEN Launching
MAVEN Launching
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft measured light and heavy isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere, allowing scientists to determine that the majority of the planet's air was lost to space.
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NASA's MAVEN spacecraft measured light and heavy isotopes of argon in the Martian atmosphere, allowing scientists to determine that the majority of the planet's air was lost to space.
Measuring Mars' Atmosphere Loss
This visualization shows MAVEN and Comet Siding Spring making their way through the solar system to a close encounter near Mars. This animation moves the camera in a bit closer and more parallel wi...
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Comet Siding Spring Wide Shots
Comet Siding Spring Wide Shots
The places where the red line on this graph extends higher than the blue line show detection of metals added to the Martian atmosphere from dust particles released by a passing comet on Oct. 19, 20...
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The places where the red line on this graph extends higher than the blue line show detection of metals added to the Martian atmosphere from dust particles released by a passing comet on Oct. 19, 2014. The graphed data are from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) on NASA's MAVEN spacecraft.
Comet Meteor Shower Put Magnesium and Iron into Martian Atmosphere
MAVEN positioned atop Atlas V rocket.
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MAVEN positioned atop Atlas V rocket.
MAVEN Positioned Atop Atlas V Rocket
In the Launch Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, agency and contractor managers and engineers monitor progress in the countdown to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatil...
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In the Launch Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, agency and contractor managers and engineers monitor progress in the countdown to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft atop an Atlas V rocket.
MAVEN Launch Control
NASA Goddard hosted a live Google+ Hangout on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m. EST about MAVEN, NASA's next mission to Mars.
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NASA's MAVEN Mars Mission Pre-Launch Hangout
NASA's MAVEN Mars Mission Pre-Launch Hangout
The MAVEN spacecraft core structure is successfully lowered and mated to the hydrazine propulsion tank and boat tail assembly at Lockheed Martin, Denver.
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The MAVEN spacecraft core structure is successfully lowered and mated to the hydrazine propulsion tank and boat tail assembly at Lockheed Martin, Denver.
MAVEN Stucture Tank Integration
Download NASA's Mars Orbiter coloring sheet.
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Download NASA's Mars Orbiter coloring sheet.
MAVEN at Mars, Coloring Sheet
Two days before the scheduled launch to Mars, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft rolled out of the Cape Canaveral Air For...
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Two days before the scheduled launch to Mars, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft rolled out of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Mars-Bound MAVEN at the Launch Pad
This image is from a scientific visualization of the electric currents around Mars.
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MAVEN Mars Electric Currents
MAVEN Mars Electric Currents
Artist's conception of the complex magnetic field environment at Mars. Yellow lines represent magnetic field lines from the Sun carried by the solar wind, blue lines represent Martian surface magne...
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Artist's conception of magnetic field environment at Mars
Artist's Conception of the Magnetic Field Environment at Mars
Computer-generated visualization of the orbital paths (white dots) taken by the MAVEN spacecraft as it mapped winds (blue lines) in the Martian upper atmosphere.
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Computer-generated visualization of the orbital paths (white dots) taken by the MAVEN spacecraft as it mapped winds (blue lines) in the Martian upper atmosphere.
MAVEN Maps Wind in the Martian Upper Atmosphere
The close encounter between comet Siding Spring and Mars flooded the planet with an invisible tide of charged particles from the comet's coma. The dense inner coma reached the surface of the planet...
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The close encounter between comet Siding Spring and Mars flooded the planet with an invisible tide of charged particles from the comet's coma. The dense inner coma reached the surface of the planet, or nearly so. The comet's powerful magnetic field temporarily merged with, and overwhelmed, the planet's weak field, as shown in this artist's depiction.
Close Siding Spring Encounter
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is quickly approaching Mars on a mission to study its upper atmosphere. When it arrives on September 21, 2014, MAVEN's winding journey from Earth will culminate with a drama...
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MAVEN Targeting Mars
MAVEN Targeting Mars
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft recently completed assembly and has started environmental testing. In the Multipurpose Test Facility clean room at Lockheed Martin, technicians installed the orbiter's two s...
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NASA's MAVEN spacecraft recently completed assembly and has started environmental testing.
MAVEN Solar Panel
This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft orbiting Mars.
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This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft orbiting Mars.
MAVEN Orbiting Mars
This animation depicts MAVEN orbiting Mars.
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This animation depicts MAVEN orbiting Mars.
Animation of MAVEN orbiting Mars
MAVEN selfie composite, unannotated
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This is an unannotated selfie of the MAVEN spacecraft.
MAVEN Selfie Composite, Unannotated
These images from the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's MAVEN orbiter show the appearance of a bright aurora on Mars during a solar storm in September 2017. The purple-white colors shows t...
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Solar Storm Triggers Whole-Planet Aurora at Mars
Solar Storm Triggers Whole-Planet Aurora at Mars

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