{"id":14585,"date":"2025-11-14T06:01:55","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T10:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-blue-origin-launch-two-spacecraft-to-study-mars-solar-wind\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T06:01:55","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T10:01:55","slug":"nasa-blue-origin-launch-two-spacecraft-to-study-mars-solar-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zobi.alcowep.com\/bourtagshdrevxnls658739\/nasa-blue-origin-launch-two-spacecraft-to-study-mars-solar-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA, Blue Origin Launch Two Spacecraft to Study Mars, Solar Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA, Blue Origin Launch Two Spacecraft to Study Mars, Solar Wind<\/h2>\n

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NASA\u2019s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission launched at 3:55 p.m. EST atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.<\/div>\n
Credit: Blue Origin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A pair of NASA spacecraft ultimately destined for Mars will study how its magnetic environment is impacted by the Sun. The mission also will help the agency prepare for future human exploration of Mars.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft launched at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, UC Berkeley, and all our partners on the successful launch of ESCAPADE. This heliophysics mission will help reveal how Mars became a desert planet, and how solar eruptions affect the Martian surface,\u201d said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. \u201cEvery launch of New Glenn provides data that will be essential when we launch MK-1 through Artemis. All this information will be critical to protect future NASA explorers and invaluable as we evaluate how to deliver on President Trump\u2019s vision of planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

The twin spacecraft, built by Rocket Lab, will investigate how a never-ending, million-mile-per-hour stream of particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, has gradually stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere, causing the planet to cool and its surface water to evaporate. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Ground controllers for the ESCAPADE mission established communications with both spacecraft by 10:35 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ESCAPADE mission is part of our strategy to understand Mars\u2019 past and present so we can send the first astronauts there safely,\u201d said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cUnderstanding Martian space weather is a top priority for future missions because it helps us protect systems, robots, and most importantly, humans, in extreme environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Glenn also carried a space communications technology demonstration from Viasat Inc., supporting NASA\u2019s efforts to commercialize next-generation satellite relay services for science missions. Funded by the agency\u2019s Communications Services Project<\/a>, the demonstration transmitted launch telemetry data from the rocket\u2019s second stage to an operations center on Earth through Viasat\u2019s geostationary satellite network.<\/p>\n

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Blazing new trails<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recent solar activity, which triggered widespread auroras on Earth, caused a slight delay in launch<\/a> to prevent solar storms from negatively impacting post-launch spacecraft commissioning. When ESCAPADE arrives at Mars, it will study present-day effects of the solar wind and solar storms on the Red Planet in real time. This will provide insights about Martian space weather and help NASA better understand the conditions astronauts will face when they reach Mars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ESCAPADE spacecraft are now about to embark on a unique journey to Mars never traversed by any other mission,\u201d said Alan Zide, ESCAPADE program executive at NASA Headquarters.<\/p>\n

Rather than heading directly to Mars, the twin spacecraft will first head to a location in space a million miles from Earth called Lagrange point 2. Right now, Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, which makes it harder to travel from one planet to the other. In November 2026, when Earth and Mars are closely aligned in their orbits, the ESCAPADE spacecraft will loop back to Earth and use Earth\u2019s gravity to slingshot themselves toward Mars.<\/p>\n

In the past, Mars missions have waited to launch during a brief window of time when Earth and Mars are aligned, which happens roughly every two years. However, with the type of trajectory ESCAPADE is using, future missions could launch nearly anytime and wait in space, queueing up for their interplanetary departure, until the two planets are in position.<\/p>\n

This original \u201cEarth-proximity\u201d or \u201cloiter\u201d orbit also will make ESCAPADE the first mission to ever pass through a distant region of Earth\u2019s magnetotail, part of our planet\u2019s magnetic field that gets stretched out away from the Sun by the solar wind.<\/p>\n

Studying Mars in stereo<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a 10-month cruise, ESCAPADE is expected to arrive at Mars in September 2027, becoming the first coordinated dual-spacecraft mission to enter orbit around another planet.<\/p>\n

Over several months, the two spacecraft will arrange themselves in their initial science formation, in which the twin spacecraft will follow each other in the same \u201cstring-of-pearls\u201d orbit, passing through the same areas in quick succession to investigate for the first time how space weather conditions vary on short timescales. This science campaign will begin in June 2028.<\/p>\n

Six months later, both spacecraft will shift into different orbits, with one traveling farther from Mars and the other staying closer to it. Planned to last for five months, this second formation aims to study the solar wind and Mars\u2019 upper atmosphere simultaneously, allowing scientists to investigate how the planet responds to the solar wind in real time.<\/p>\n

In addition, ESCAPADE will provide more information about Mars\u2019 ionosphere \u2014 a part of the upper atmosphere that future astronauts will rely on to send radio and navigation signals around the planet.<\/p>\n

The ESCAPADE mission is funded by NASA\u2019s Heliophysics Division and is part of NASA\u2019s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Advanced Space support the mission. NASA\u2019s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, secured the launch service with Blue Origin under the Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the ESCAPADE mission, visit:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/science.nasa.gov\/mission\/escapade\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

-end-<\/p>\n

Abbey Interrante
Headquarters, Washington
301-201-0124
abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

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