The Maven (Evolution Mission Mars Atmospheric and Volatile) NASA spacecraft has successfully managed to enter Mars orbit after a 10 months and 442,000 miles , as confirmed on Sunday the directors of the Mission. “Congratulations, Maven is now in the orbit of Mars,” reported by the American space agency through their website. In the center of mission operations near the city of Denver (United States), the news was received with applause.
The spacecraft-the size of a bus-on executed a crucial motor once located in the vicinity of Mars to perform the insertion maneuver , which lasted more than the 33 minutes expected. This milestone marks the culmination of 11 years of development concept and Maven , which, once it has made it to its destination, is preparing for the science phase of the mission, which will investigate Mars than any other spacecraft above.
“We are the first mission dedicated to the observation of the upper atmosphere of Mars and how it interacts with the Sun and the solar wind ” explained after launch Maven for eleven months ago-principal investigator Bruce Jakosky. These observations will help scientists determine the amount of gas in the Martian atmosphere has been lost in space over time and whether the planet has driven the loss.
In addition, throughout the project, the team conducted six maneuvers to move the ship into orbit, which will produce an image of the planet as “never before seen” as Jakosky said. Thus, the probe will be the first NASA dive with the tenuous upper atmosphere of the planet, which will increase the knowledge about the history of the Martian climate, the presence of liquid water and planetary habitability for microbes. This mission has had a total cost of € 671 million .
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