The MAVEN probe enters orbit around Mars to study … – RTVE

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MAVEN in its transport container being shipped to destination Kennedy NASA

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Kennedy Center Technical MAVEN pulling its container NASA

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The unmanned spacecraft has successfully entered MAVEN, after a journey of 10 months and over 700 miles, in the orbit of Mars. As will soon begin work study the atmosphere of Mars , one of the previous steps for future manned mission.

NASA has confirmed that the probe completed Maven successfully the braking process with its six thrusters, which stopped for 33 minutes until the satellite was trapped by the gravity of Mars in the right orbit.

The goal of MAVEN, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution , Evolution of the Atmosphere and Volatile on Mars, is determine what it was that made Mars lost most of its atmosphere and water , in addition to studying the current state of collecting this data on its composition or the rate at which the planet loses certain gases in space, because it does not have the protection of a magnetic field like Earth.

Mission one year

Maven is designed to determine how much atmosphere is lost, how long and what were the processes that atmospheric loss. Since the scientists, in the past Mars had a magnetic field that repelled the solar wind deflecting sideways, but off the magnetic field, managed to penetrate the atmosphere to undo it.

The spaceship manned is scheduled to orbit Earth during a solar year, at an altitude of between 6,115 kilometers and 125 kilometers above the Martian surface. Scientists are convinced that Maven can gather critical information for know what it was Mars before of the Sun “conspired” to undo its atmosphere “molecule by molecule.”

Scientists suspect that Mars was not always the cold, dry desert it is today, since its surface is littered with what appear to be dry riverbeds and minerals that form in the presence of water.

Future manned mission

The first mission with the instruments of the probe will be tested over comet Siding Spring near Mars next month, a main event not originally planned by those responsible for the mission and let you know how it affects the atmosphere of a planet passing as close as a comet will Siding Spring, which will pass within 70,000 miles of Mars.

The study of the atmosphere and climate of Mars will also be useful for prepare in future manned mission to Mars .

The Maven probe, first sent to take a reading of the outer layers of Mars, is the result of a joint project with NASA Lockheed Martin, the University of Colorado and the University of California.