Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN)

Description

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is designed to explore Mars' upper atmosphere and ionosphere, and interactions with the solar wind, specifically to determine the loss of volatile compounds to space through time and how it has affected the history of Mars' atmosphere and climate. MAVEN has four primary scientific objectives: 1) Determine the role that loss of volatiles from the Mars atmosphere to space has played through time; 2) determine the current state of the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the solar wind; 3) determine the current rates of escape of neutral gases and ions to space and the processes controlling them; and 4) determine the ratios of stable isotopes that will tell Mars' history of loss through time. MAVEN is part of NASA's Mars Scout program.

Spacecraft and Subsystems

The MAVEN spacecraft consists of a cubic primary central structure with 2 solar panel "wings". The central structure is 2.3 x 2.3 meters and 2 meters high, constructed of panels of aluminum honeycomb sandwiched between graphite composite face sheets. A 1.3 meter diameter cylindrical propellant tank is at the center of the structure and acts as the primary vertical load-bearing structure. The tank can hold 1640 kg of hydrazine. A payload of right instruments is mounted on the spacecraft: Magnetometer, Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, Langmuir Probe and Waves, Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrometer, Solar Wind Electron Analyzer, Solar Wind Ion Analyzer, Solar Energetic Particles, and a SupraThermal And Thermal Ion Composition.

MAVEN will launch on an Atlas V 401. The launch window for the mission opens on 18 November 2013 and is open until 7 December 2013. An 18 November launch will reach Mars on 16 September 2014. At Mars it will go into a 4.5 hour science orbit with an inclination of 75n degrees and a periapsis of 150 km. The nominal science mission will last 1 year and will include 5 "deep-dip" maneuvers during which the periapsis will be lowered to 125 km for 5-day periods.