NASA is about to launch a ship to study the Martian atmosphere

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has said it is working on a plan to launch the Maven probe to Mars in mid-May , to understand why the red planet lost its atmosphere. its.

According to AFP, the unmanned spaceship is expected to leave the earth on November 18, at 13:38 (local time, or 0: 39 minutes in the morning of November 19).

If all goes well on a 10-month journey, the probe will arrive at Mars at the end of September 2014, to begin the mission on the red planet's orbit from November, scientists of NASA said.

The ship will fly in orbit with a height of 6.115km from Mars's surface and during the mission, it will have five times lowered to 125km altitude.

The ship, called Maven, stands for Mars' unstable Atmospheric and Evolutionary Mission, is equipped with three tools to help detect changes in the red planet's atmosphere.

Maven will find out why Mars lost its atmosphere - (Photo: NASA)

According to AFP, Maven ships are not tasked with hunting methane gas, indicating only the existence of microorganisms or organic substances.

On November 5, India is expected to perform its first Mars exploration mission. The Mars Orbiter will carry five scientific instruments manufactured by India to study the Martian atmosphere, in search of traces of methane; Take color photos of the red planet and find out if there is water on it.

Previously, NASA's Curiosity probe, which is on Mars, has concluded that there is almost no methane gas on the planet.

While the new Maven mission will provide more insight into why the red planet has such a big change in its atmosphere.

The current Martian atmosphere is too cold, too thin to support the presence of liquid water, said atmospheric expert Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado (AFP).

Maven will focus on the evolutionary history of the atmosphere on Mars and find out if the atmosphere there ever supports life, Bruce Jakosky said.

According to him, the ship worth $ 671 million, if it flies to Mars orbit successfully, it may have enough fuel to last for nearly a decade.

It is known that Maven is part of an ambitious program, including many probes, and self-propelled vehicles are launched to Mars to collect data, to pave the way for the mission to fly people to the planet. in the 2030s, NASA said.

The Maven weighs 2,453kg and will be taken up by Atlas V 401 boosters from Cape Canaveral Air Base in Florida, USA.