Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Maven gets inserted 9/21/14


Oh you have such a dirty mind!  NASA's MAVEN, a Mars science package, will enter the Martian atmosphere at an altitude of 236 (what wildly accurate shooting huh?) to begin a 33 minute deceleration burn that will consume more than half of the on-board fuel carried by the satellite.   This combination of  atmosphere and  engine burn will insert Maven into a 35 hour capture orbit.  

MAVEN will then begin a calibration phase a part of which includes maneuvering the spacecraft into its final 4.5 hour orbit.  During this period, controller, will  test its instruments and science-mapping commands.  After-which MAVEN will begin its one-Earth-year mission to take measurements of the composition, structure and escape of gases in Mars’ upper atmosphere and its interaction with the sun and solar wind.

NASA Maven article   HERE

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