{"id":2189,"date":"2025-11-09T02:12:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T02:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2189"},"modified":"2025-11-09T02:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T02:12:33","slug":"why-an-unprecedented-nasa-mission-is-set-to-take-off-on-a-winding-journey-to-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2189","title":{"rendered":"Why an unprecedented NASA mission is set to take off on a winding journey to Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twin spacecraft are set to take off on an unprecedented, winding journey to Mars, where they will investigate why the\u00a0barren red planet\u00a0began to lose its atmosphere billions of years ago.<\/p>\n

Called EscaPADE, the mission will aim for an orbital trajectory that has never been attempted before, according to aerospace company Advanced Space, which is supporting the project. If successful, it could be a crucial case study that can allow extraordinary flexibility for planetary science missions down the road.<\/p>\n

The robotic mission plans to spend a year idling in an orbital backroad before heading to its target destination. The project is part of\u00a0NASA\u2019s SIMPLEx, or Small, Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration, program, which aims to spur researchers and companies to devise ways to use small spacecraft to carry out science investigations for pennies on the dollar.<\/p>\n

EscaPADE, short for Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers and led by the University of California, Berkeley, is among the most ambitious.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t use the word \u2018cheap.\u2019 We say, \u2018high value,\u2019\u201d joked Jeff Parker, chief technology officer at Colorado-based Advanced Space, which is participating in the project along with California-based Rocket Lab. \u201cWe\u2019re providing science that is at the level of missions that cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but with a low budget.\u201d<\/p>\n

EscaPADE\u2019s cost was\u00a0less than $100 million, compared with the roughly\u00a0$300 million\u00a0to\u00a0$600 million\u00a0price tags of other NASA satellites orbiting Mars.<\/p>\n

The spacecraft are slated to lift off atop Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket \u2014 marking the first time the new launch vehicle has flown with valuable cargo on board \u2014 as soon as 2:45 p.m. ET Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.<\/p>\n

The launch attempt could be affected by the government shutdown if it\u2019s delayed after this weekend.\u00a0Blue Origin said\u00a0in a statement that it has \u201cbeen working closely with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) to ensure that New Glenn\u2019s upcoming launch of the ESCAPADE Mission to Mars can proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the \u2018transfer window\u2019<\/h3>\n

Typically, spacecraft destined for Mars will wait until the planet is in prime alignment with Earth during a period called the \u201ctransfer window.\u201d Such launch opportunities span a few weeks and occur about every 26 months, allowing spacecraft to take a quick-shot trajectory to the red planet.<\/p>\n

When it was originally conceived, EscaPADE was expected to take a direct path.<\/p>\n

But a quagmire of launch delays, changes to mission plans and other quirks of timing left the orbiters without a ride when the last Mars transfer window closed in late 2024.<\/p>\n

Rather than waiting for the next prime opportunity in 2026, mission designers opted to get creative \u2014 hashing out a \u201claunch-and-loiter\u201d approach that could allow EscaPADE to take flight any day of any year and still reach Mars with fuel to spare.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea is launch anytime, loiter until the planets are just perfectly aligned, and then to depart on your interplanetary cruise to Mars,\u201d Parker explained.<\/p>\n

After takeoff, the twin EscaPADE spacecraft will soar into deep space. But rather than turning toward Mars, the two orbiters will instead aim for Lagrange Point 2, or L2 \u2014 a cosmic balance point about 1.5 million kilometers (930,000 miles) from Earth.<\/p>\n

Lagrange points are special because they act as gravitational wells in which the pull of the sun and Earth are in perfect balance. The conditions can allow spacecraft to linger without being dragged away.<\/p>\n

The L2 point also offers \u201ca really nice radiation environment\u201d as far as outer space goes, Parker noted, where the spacecraft will \u201cstay up in a very high orbit outside of the radiation belts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spacecraft will then loop endlessly in a kidney bean-shaped orbit around L2 until next year\u2019s Mars transfer window opens. The EscaPADE vehicles would then briefly swing back around Earth in November 2026, allowing them to head out on a path to Mars at long last.<\/p>\n

No matter what day EscaPADE takes flight, both spacecraft will enter Martian orbit in September 2027.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"Blue<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket lifts off on January 16 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. – John Raoux\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A risky endeavor<\/h3>\n

The groundbreaking plan, however, has its drawbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpacecraft components do experience wear and tear in space,\u201d Parker said. \u201cSo no matter what, this does add a little bit of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accepting that added risk is necessary, Parker said, to help drive down costs. And doing so means mission operators must acknowledge that success is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n

Other low-cost missions flown under the NASA\u2019s SIMPLEx program have failed due to a range of setbacks, including\u00a0Lunar Trailblazer, which ended due to communications problems, and\u00a0LunaH-Map, which experienced launch delays that left the spacecraft in suboptimal condition.<\/p>\n

If successful, EscaPADE could be the first bright spot in NASA\u2019s campaign to conduct planetary science on the cheap. And it only takes one, Parker argued, to make the program worth it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the SIMPLEx program, which is trailblazing these high-value missions, succeeds in one mission out of three, that is still much higher value than the traditional-cost missions,\u201d Parker said.<\/p>\n

Sign up for\u00a0CNN\u2019s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.<\/p>\n

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at\u00a0CNN.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twin spacecraft are set to take off on an unprecedented, winding journey to Mars, where they will investigate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nasa","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2189"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2191,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions\/2191"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}