The scientific objective is to map the planet’s magnetosphere – the magnetic field that surrounds it. Scientists hope the data will help answer a fundamental question: how Mars lost its atmosphere and liquid water over billions of years, turning it into the cold desert it is today. The probes will study how the solar wind “tears” particles from the Martian upper atmosphere.
With the success of this mission, Blue Origin not only fulfills a vital contract with NASA, but also demonstrates that New Glenn is operational and ready to become one of the leading heavy launch vehicles on the global market.
The mission on Mars: Unravel an atmospheric mystery
The payload sent by New Glenn, NASA’s ESCAPADE mission, has a scientific objective of primary importance: unraveling the mystery of how Mars became the arid planet we know. Once a world of lakes and rivers, the Red Planet has lost its protective atmosphere and liquid water. ESCAPADE will look into how this happened.
To achieve this, the two twin probes, “Blue” and “Gold”, will perform an “autopsy” on the way the planet interacts with the Sun. The great advantage of this mission is its dual measurement capability: the two ships will orbit Mars together, collecting data in different locations at exactly the same time.
This technique will allow scientists to build a 3D map of how the solar wind – a constant stream of energetic particles coming from the Sun – bombards and strips gas ions (such as oxygen and hydrogen) from the weak Martian upper atmosphere.
In the video below you can watch the entire New Glenn mission.