MAVEN
MAVEN is a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of that planet's atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of the planet's climate and water. The name is an acronym for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution" while the word maven also denotes "a person who has special knowledge or experience; an expert". MAVEN was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on 18 November 2013 UTC and went into orbit around Mars on 22 September 2014 UTC. The mission is the first by NASA to study the Mars atmosphere. The probe is analyzing the planet's upper atmosphere and ionosphere to examine how and at what rate the solar wind is stripping away volatile compounds.
Artist's rendering of the MAVEN spacecraft bus | |
| Names |
|
|---|---|
| Mission type | Mars atmospheric research |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2013-063A |
| SATCAT no. | 39378 |
| Website | Official website |
| Mission duration | 2 years (planned) Science phase extended indefinitely 9 years, 4 months, 22 days (in progress) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin Space Systems |
| Launch mass | 2,454 kg (5,410 lb) |
| Dry mass | 809 kg (1,784 lb) |
| Payload mass | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2.3 m × 2.3 m × 2 m |
| Power | 1135 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 18 November 2013, 18:28:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Atlas V 401 (AV-038) |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-41 |
| Contractor | United Launch Alliance |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Areocentric orbit |
| Regime | Elliptic orbit |
| Periareon altitude | 150 km (93 mi) |
| Apoareon altitude | 6,200 km (3,900 mi) |
| Inclination | 75° |
| Period | 4.5 hours |
| Mars orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | 22 September 2014, 02:24 UTC MSD 50025 08:07 AMT |
Maven mission logo | |
The principal investigator for the mission is Shannon Curry at the University of California, Berkeley. She took over from Bruce Jakosky of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, who proposed and led the mission until 2021. The project cost $582.5 million to build, launch, and operate through its two-year prime mission.