TORONTO – The red planet is getting ready to welcome a new spacecraft due to arrive on Sunday.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft will reach Mars on Sept. 21 after a 10-month journey, travelling more than 710 million km.
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When it arrives at its destination, MAVEN will insert itself into Martian orbit. Six small thruster engines will fire to steady the craft. The engines will burn for 33 minutes to slow it down, allowing Martian gravity to pull MAVEN into an elliptical orbit.
“So far, so good with the performance of the spacecraft and payloads on the cruise to Mars,” David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said in a press statement. “The team, the flight system, and all ground assets are ready for Mars orbit insertion.”
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Once there, MAVEN will continue to refine its orbit for its long-term science mission as well as test its instruments. It will then begin its one-year mission to measure the composition, structure and escape of gases in the planet’s upper atmosphere.
It is believed that Mars once had flowing water and an environment capable of supporting life. But scientists are trying to understand why Mars lost so much of its atmosphere.
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