MAVEN
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
NASA Resumes Efforts to Reestablish Contact With MAVEN
As spacecraft and rovers at Mars emerge from solar conjunction — a period when the Red Planet and Earth are on opposite sides of the Sun and contact with Mars missions isn’t possible — NASA has resumed efforts to recontact its MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) spacecraft using NASA’s Deep Space Network and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Observatory. The spacecraft was last heard from on Dec. 6.
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Celebrate MAVEN: 10 Years at Mars
Download the commemorative poster.
See the MAVEN Poster about Celebrate MAVEN: 10 Years at Mars
Meet the MAVEN Orbiter
Citizen Science Project
Using data collected from MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS), you can help answer understand Mars' atmosphere and climate. Questions include:
- What are the daily, seasonal, or annual patterns in Martian cloud shapes and distributions?
- How well do cloud forms reflect prevailing wind patterns?
- Do the structural similarities between Earth and Mars' cloud types point to similar formation mechanisms?
| MAVEN Mission Key Facts | |
|---|---|
| Launch | Nov. 18, 2013 |
| Launch Location | Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida |
| Launch Vehicle | Atlas V01 |
| Mars Orbit Insertion | Sept. 21, 2014 (10:24 p.m. EDT) |
| Length | 37.5 feet (11.4 meters) |
| Width | 90 inches (2.29 meters) |
| Height | 11.4 feet (3.47 meters) |
| Mass | Dry (unfueled) mass at launch: 1,784 pounds (809 kilograms) Wet (fueled with hydrazine) mass at launch: 5,410 pounds (2,454 kilograms) Science payload: 143 pounds (65 kilograms) in eight instruments |
| Power | More than 2,000 solar cells on four panels cover 129 square feet (12m2) and generate between 1,150 and 1,700 watts (depending on spacecraft’s position in Mars orbit); solar panels power two 55-amp-hour lithium ion batteries. |
| High-gain Antenna | 6.56 feet (2 meters) in diameter |
| Communications | 14 pounds (6.5 kilograms). Electra UHF communications package to provide data relay from rovers and landers on Mars back to Earth. |
| Mission Duration | Ongoing |
NASA’s Mars Spacecraft Capture Images of Comet 3I/ATLAS
Two orbiters and a rover captured images of the interstellar object — from the closest location any of the agency’s…
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