NASA has begun studying possible alternative trajectories for the Martian mission EscaPADE. Its launch could take place in 2025 or 2026.
The EscaPADE mission consists of a pair of identical probes built by Rocket Lab on behalf of NASA. They are designed to study the magnetosphere and atmosphere of Mars and how they interact with the solar wind. The vehicles were planned to be sent to the Red Planet in October 2024 during the debut launch of the New Glenn rocket. But due to the unavailability of the carrier, NASA had to abandon this plan. The decision to cancel was made the day before engineers were expected to begin refueling the probes.
The next ballistic window for a mission to Mars will open in December 2026. However, NASA is considering launching the vehicles earlier on a more complex trajectory. According to Rob Lillis, the mission’s principal investigator, late 2025 to early 2026 are seen as possible dates. In this case, EscaPADE will be initially directed in the vicinity of the L2 Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system and will make spins around it. Lillis figuratively compared their orbit to a bean. Then they will use the help of Earth’s gravity and go to Mars. In this case, the arrival to the Red Planet will take place in September 2027.
From a scientific point of view, such a trajectory offers some advantages, allowing for unique space weather observations beyond the L2 point up to 3.5 million kilometers from Earth. This region has not been studied since the Wind mission in the 1990s. The downside is that the probes will spend more time than planned in interplanetary space before reaching Mars. But engineers say that longer exposure to radiation shouldn’t be a particular problem for EscaPADE.
The pair of vehicles is now at the company’s Rocket Lab facility in California. The decision on a new date of the mission launch will be made by NASA next year.
Provided by Spacenews
