USA Launching Versatile Space Enterprise: Interplanetary, Scientific, Government, Commercial calendar feature - USA launches The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) NASA spacecraft is set for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral FL November 18. The 1-year science mission to study the upper atmosphere of Mars will begin when the craft successfully reaches the Red Planet on September 16, 2014 – about the same time recently launched India Mars Orbiter Mission is set to arrive. Principal Investigator Dr. Bruce Jakosky from University of Colorado believes that Maven data will help explain how the Mars climate has changed over time due to loss of atmospheric gases. There are two other USA launches this week. Orbital launches 30 individual spacecraft on one Minotaur rocket from Wallops Island VA on Nov 19. Along with the primary and secondary DoD payloads there are 28 CubeSats from organizations and institutions across the country: the Vermont Lunar Cubesat prototype, TetherSat 1, 2 to test electrodynamic tether propulsion, TJ3Sat to be fist ever satellite flown and built by high school students, and SwampSat to test advanced CubeSat-scale Control Moment Gyros. SpaceX launches the SES 8 on a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral FL on Nov 25. The commercial communications satellite is to provide Ku-band and Ka-band direct-to-home services for customers in South and Southeast Asia. (Image Credit: NASA, ULA, OSC, SpaceX, ORS, USAF, VTC, UFL, TJHSST, Ball) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAVEN
Posted on: Sat, 16 Nov 2013 01:04:50 +0000
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