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Space & Astronomy

NASA's Maven spacecraft arrives at Mars

By T.K. Randall
September 22, 2014 · Comment icon 27 comments

Maven has successfully arrived at Mars. Image Credit: NASA
The satellite has arrived in orbit around the Red Planet after a 10-month voyage across the solar system.
The latest in a long line of spacecraft to visit Mars over the past few decades, NASA's Maven probe conducted a successful 33-minute burn of its six main thrusters this week to bring it in to orbit around its destination almost one year after its launch from Earth.

Its mission will be to study what remains of the planet's atmosphere in an attempt to better understand the processes that resulted in most of it being lost. Scientists are hoping that the data will help them build better models of Mars' past and present climate.
"Previous spacecraft have made measurements and we've learned a lot about the upper-atmosphere, but we haven't been able to put the whole end-to-end picture together," said principal investigator Bruce Jakosky.

"I'm hoping Maven will be a mission of discovery, that almost everything we observe will lead us to fundamental new insights about the Mars environment today and how it has evolved over time."

Another spacecraft, India's Mars Orbiter Mission, is also scheduled to arrive within the next few days.

Source: BBC News | Comments (27)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #18 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
crucial word: one day! meanwhile some people dont have nothing to eat! And you are going to sell your computer to feed someone I take it... or are you another one that complains that there are poor people and someone else should do something about it? Getting rid of the space programme would be no more effective at ending world hunger than you selling your computer.
Comment icon #19 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
Nice, i hope for full disclosure whatever it was or is.... There is always full disclosure on NASA Mars missions. The fact that some people don't believe what is disclosed is not NASA's fault.
Comment icon #20 Posted by CRYSiiSx2 10 years ago
Kobalt you're so right. I'm going to sell everything I own to feed someone! Oh wait, all those lazy people who don't want to work are already be fed by me, I pay my taxes.
Comment icon #21 Posted by shrooma 10 years ago
Tells a guy who have Hawking in his signature. . do you know what makes Stephen Hawking angry....? . CAPS LOCK!! .
Comment icon #22 Posted by taniwha 10 years ago
And you are going to sell your computer to feed someone I take it... or are you another one that complains that there are poor people and someone else should do something about it? Getting rid of the space programme would be no more effective at ending world hunger than you selling your computer. Exactly, even if it turns out mars is a giant peach we would still have world hunger.
Comment icon #23 Posted by shrooma 10 years ago
Exactly, even if it turns out mars is a giant peach we would still have world hunger. . because we'd all be busy fighting over who had the biggest spoon..... .
Comment icon #24 Posted by Noteverythingisaconspiracy 10 years ago
can you tell us what would this satelite do that is SO important?! you cant. It increases our knowledge of Mars and by extension our knowledge of the universe. Seems pretty important to me !
Comment icon #25 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
It increases our knowledge of Mars and by extension our knowledge of the universe. It increases our knowledge of how planet's atmospheres can evolve over billions of years and by extension how OUR atmosphere could evolve. Seems pretty important to me ! Since an atmosphere is crucial for every living thing on Earth it seems pretty important to me too.
Comment icon #26 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
MAVEN Spacecraft Returns First Mars Observations NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has obtained its first observations of the extended upper atmosphere surrounding Mars.The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument obtained these false-color images eight hours after the successful completion of Mars orbit insertion by the spacecraft at 10:24 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 21, after a 10-month journey. Read more...
Comment icon #27 Posted by Waspie_Dwarf 10 years ago
ScienceCasts: First Light for MAVENVisit http://science.nasa.gov/ for more.NASA's MAVEN spacecraft has reached Mars and it is beaming back "First Light" images of the Red Planet's upper atmosphere. The data could help researchers understand what transformed Mars from a hospitable planet billions of years ago into a desiccated wasteland today.Credit: NASASource: NASA - Multimedia


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