News Archive / Tagged: MAVEN

• MAVEN spacecraft to be moved to a lower Mars orbit

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 14th, 2019

  NASA's MAVEN orbiter is being prepared to act as a communications relay with the Mars 2020 rover, which is set to launch in 2020 and land in February 2021.

• Martian storm chasers: Spacecraft observe dust storm

  Paul KnightlyJuly 30th, 2018

  A fleet of spacecraft are diligently studying the global dust storm currently encircling Mars. Much as storm chasers would do on Earth, they are collecting valuable data so that scientists can better understand how these storms form and evolve.

• Panoramic images show Curiosity’s route on Mars since 2012 landing

  Laurel KornfeldFebruary 1st, 2018

  Members of NASA's Curiosity team combined individual photos taken by the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam) on the northern flank of Mount Sharp to create a panorama that overlooks the many sites the six-wheeled geologist has visited since landing on Mars in 2012.

• Dust storms linked to gas escaping Martian atmosphere

  Jim SharkeyJanuary 26th, 2018

  A new study using data gathered by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) during the Red Planet's most recent global dust storm in 2007, suggests that such storms play a role in the escaping of gases from the planet's atmosphere. That process transformed the warmer, wetter climate of ancient Mars into the arid, frozen conditions found on the surface of the Red Planet today.

• NASA’s MAVEN mission providing insights into life on distant worlds

  Jason RhianDecember 31st, 2017

  Mars. Long a destination dreamed of by the public in general and space enthusiasts in particular, is providing insights about the length of time that other planets can support life. How long would a planet like Mars, orbiting a distant red dwarf star be habitable? One of NASA's Scout Program missions is helping to develop an answer.

• MAVEN finds metal in Mars’ atmosphere

  Jim SharkeyApril 13th, 2017

  NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN) spacecraft has discovered electrically charged metal atoms (ions) high in the atmosphere of Mars. The metal ions help provide clues about previously invisible activity with Mars' electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere).

• Most of Mars’ atmosphere lost to space, scientists say

  Jim SharkeyApril 1st, 2017

  According to a new study by scientists working with NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, the Martian atmosphere was mostly stripped away by solar wind and radiation, changing Mars from a world that could have supported life billions of years ago into the frigid desert planet it is today.

• MAVEN avoids crashing into Mars’ moon Phobos

  Derek RichardsonMarch 3rd, 2017

  NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, spacecraft just avoided colliding with Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons. An avoidance maneuver was performed on Feb. 28, 2017, to safely alter the trajectory of the orbiter.

• MAVEN captures detailed ultraviolet images of Mars’ atmosphere

  Laurel KornfeldOctober 21st, 2016

  NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft has taken hundreds of high-resolution photos of the Red Planet's atmosphere in ultraviolet light, revealing unprecedented details of its cloud formation and high-altitude wind circulation.

• MAVEN spacecraft gears up to observe global dust storm on Mars

  Tomasz NowakowskiAugust 24th, 2016

  NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Mission (MAVEN) orbiter will have a front-row seat to watch a dusty spectacle in late 2016. The spacecraft, nearing its second anniversary in Martian orbit, has already gathered a wealth of scientific data about the Red Planet’s atmosphere and is expected to provide crucial insights on the nature of intense dust storms occurring periodically on Mars.

• MAVEN researchers find contributor to Martian climate change

  Joe LatrellNovember 8th, 2015

  NASA researchers published scientific findings from their work studying the Martian atmosphere in the November 5, 2015 issues of the journals Science and Geophysical Research Letters. Their investigations helped to show that the solar wind is the main contributor to Martian climate change by stripping away the planet's atmosphere. This startling discovery was made using the space agency's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft currently in orbit above the dusty Martian terrain.

• NASA MAVEN mission solves case of missing Martian atmosphere

  Jim SharkeyNovember 6th, 2015

  Scientists with NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission announced on Thursday that they have identified the key factor in the loss of much of the Martian atmosphere, which resulted in the planet's transition from a warm, wet world to the cold and dry planet that Mars is today.

• Two Mars spacecraft celebrate one year in Martian orbit

  Tomasz NowakowskiSeptember 25th, 2015

  NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) and India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) celebrate one year in Martian orbit this week. MAVEN started its journey to Mars in Nov. 2013 and entered Mars’ orbit in Sept. 2014. The Indian probe, which was launched 13 days earlier, arrived at Mars two days after the U.S. spacecraft.

• MAVEN detects aurora and mysterious Martian dust cloud

  SpaceFlight InsiderMarch 19th, 2015

  WOODLANDS, Tex. — At the 46th annual Lunar Planetary Society Conference, scientists discussed the latest findings from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. The first spacecraft dedicated to studying the evolution and loss of Mars’ tenuous upper atmosphere, MAVEN recently detected two surprising phenomena.

• MAVEN goes for a dip

  Joe LatrellFebruary 21st, 2015

  NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) orbiter is the first spacecraft dedicated to studying the tenuous Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft recently completed the first of five planned dips into the lowest section of the upper Martian atmosphere, taking samples and relaying them back home to NASA.