First I need to apologize. In my previous post the link to my guest post was broken for a time. I fixed it however, many of you indicated you had some difficulty with it. So for those of you who would like to read my guest post from last week, here is the link.
Fantasy, the purest form of fiction.
Now for some interesting news. I received a call from my brother who works for Lockheed-Martin, an aerospace contractor. He proceeded to tell me that a launch date was set for the project he has been working of for several years. The project is called MAVEN and stands for, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft. According to NASA:
The MAVEN mission, scheduled for launch in late 2013, will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. Where did the atmosphere – and the water – go?
MAVEN will determine how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to allow extrapolation backward in time.
-according to NASA Mission pages website.
Unloading MAVEN spacecraft at KSC (Photo credit NASA photo library)
My brother has been the requirements and verification lead relating to the MAVEN space vehicle. His responsibilities included overseeing the definition of the spacecraft and ensuring that all requirements are met. Sounds cool doesn’t it? Hell, I get goosebumps just writing about it. Anyway, after years of work by a large team of individuals, it is finally going to launch.
Since I have a personal interest in this event, it is my intention to post periodic blogs relating to preparation for the launch and hopefully, the launch itself. If you have specific questions relating to the project, I will try to obtain correct answers and provide them during followup posts.
This is just plain cool!
Tales From The Hare 