NASA to launch new mission to Mars (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN))

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 10/5/10 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US space agency NASA announced Tuesday it has given the green light to a mission to Mars aimed at investigating the mystery of how the "red planet" lost its atmosphere.

NASA gave the approval Monday for "the development and 2013 launch of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission," the agency said in a statement, noting that the project may also show Mars' history of supporting life.

"A better understanding of the upper atmosphere and the role that escape to space has played is required to plug a major hole in our understanding of Mars," said MAVEN's lead investigator Bruce Jakosky of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

"We're really excited about having the opportunity to address these fundamental science questions," he added.

Three main scientific instruments will be launched to Earth's neighbor aboard a craft in November 2013 as part of the 438-million-dollar project.

Clues on Mars' surface, including features that resemble ancient riverbeds and minerals that could only form in the presence of liquid water, suggest the planet "once had a denser atmosphere, which supported the presence of liquid water on the surface," said NASA.

However, most of the Martian atmosphere was lost as part of a dramatic climate shift.

[PIF]

Case in point:
NASA budget approx 8 billion
HUD budget approx 800 billion...