Unit 3 Article Summary Spencer Meyer

            Nasa has launched a new mission to mars involving a rover that will investigate the loss of the planet's water and the slow erosion of its atmosphere.  Nick-named (Maven) Mars atmosphere and volatile  evolution, this rover was launched from the cape canaveral in air-force station only a few days ago. Costing over $671 million, Maven will spend the next ten months hurtling through space before arriving at mars. It well then travel around mars in an elliptical orbit using 8 instruments to measure the slow decay of the planet's atmosphere. Scientists hope this new information will help them better understand how Mars went from a warm wet planet to a cold desert. Maven is a huge step in new technology that many astronauts hope will get them ever closer to sending humans to mars (estimated to happen in 2030). India just sent a similar space craft to mars just 13 days before Maven was launched. However, Maven will arrive 2 days earlier in September 2014. Both of these space craft will be in different positions around Mars at different times allowing scientists to get more of a 3D image.

MAVEN rover