{"id":799060,"date":"2025-11-09T08:21:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=799060"},"modified":"2025-11-09T08:21:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:21:30","slug":"escapade-mission-launches-to-mars-on-november-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=799060","title":{"rendered":"ESCAPADE mission launches to Mars on November 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Blue Origin Launches New Glenn Flight 2 - NASA ESCAPADE Mission to Mars\" width=\"1110\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R0dQ1nzz1Do?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/><em>Blue Origin will launch the 2nd flight of its huge New Glenn rocket no earlier than November 9, with the ESCAPADE spacecraft aboard. Current launch window for the ESCAPADE mission: November 9th from 2:45 p.m. EST to 4:44 p.m. EST (19:45-21:44 UTC). Watch in the player above or on YouTube.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>EarthSky isn\u2019t powered by billionaires. We\u2019re powered by you.<\/strong><br \/>Support EarthSky\u2019s 2025 Donation Campaign and help keep science accessible. Donate today!<\/p>\n<h3>ESCAPADE mission launches to Mars on November 9<\/h3>\n<p>Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket will launch the ESCAPADE mission \u2013 headed for Mars \u2013 into space on November 9, 2025. The mission will go up from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. ESCAPADE stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers. The mission will use twin spacecraft, nicknamed Blue and Gold, to study Mars\u2019 magnetic environment. <\/p>\n<p>This will be just the 2nd launch for the New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle, after its initial launch in January 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The launch window for the mission will open at 2:45 p.m. EST (19:45 UTC) on November 9, 2025. Watch the launch in the player above or on YouTube.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_369127\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-369127\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-369127\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of the twin Blue and Gold orbiters on the ESCAPADE mission to Mars. The probes will launch on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on November 9, 2025, from Florida. It will take the probes 11 months to reach the red planet, where they will study Mars\u2019 magnetic environment. Image via Rocket Lab\/ UC Berkeley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Mars\u2019 electrically charged environment<\/h3>\n<p>The ESCAPADE mission aims to track the internal workings of Mars\u2019 magnetic environment. Mars doesn\u2019t have a global magnetic field in the same sense Earth does. It doesn\u2019t have a single, planet-wide magnetic field generated by a molten, convecting iron core (a dynamo). Earth\u2019s global magnetic field surrounds the whole planet and creates a strong magnetosphere that protects us from the solar wind. Mars doesn\u2019t have this in quite the same way.<\/p>\n<p>But Mars does have many localized magnetic fields frozen into patches of its crust. They are <em>remnant magnetizations<\/em>, or leftovers from an ancient global magnetic field that Mars apparently had billions of years ago. Mars orbits one step farther from the sun than Earth. And it\u2019s a smaller and colder planet than Earth. When Mars\u2019 core cooled and its dynamo shut down, the global field collapsed. But iron-bearing rocks that had solidified while the field still existed kept their magnetization. Those patches still create small, regional magnetic fields \u2013 some surprisingly strong \u2013 especially in Mars\u2019 southern highlands.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_527356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-527356\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/11\/mars_magnetic-ezgif.com-video-to-webp-converter.webp\" alt=\"Rotating ball, representing Mars, with red and blue patches on its surface.\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" class=\"size-full wp-image-527356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/11\/mars_magnetic-ezgif.com-video-to-webp-converter.webp 400w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/11\/mars_magnetic-ezgif.com-video-to-webp-converter-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/11\/mars_magnetic-ezgif.com-video-to-webp-converter-150x150.webp 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-527356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Here\u2019s a magnetic map of Mars. Mars has many localized magnetic fields that are frozen into patches of its crust. Data from many earlier spacecraft missions made this map possible. Red: Positive magnetic fields. Blue: negative magnetic fields. Image via NOAA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>ESCAPADE\u2019s goal<\/h3>\n<p>ESCAPADE\u2019s goal is to study how those crustal magnetic fields interact with the solar wind. ESCAPADE\u2019s twin spacecraft will orbit Mars to measure how solar particles and the Martian atmosphere behave around those regions of remnant magnetism. Scientists expect ESCAPADE will help them understand more of the details of how Mars lost most of its atmosphere over time, and how Mars lost its magnetosphere. <\/p>\n<p>So Mars\u2019 magnetic field is unlike those on other planets. It\u2019s more of a <em>hybrid<\/em>. On the one hand, it\u2019s a solar-induced magnetosphere,  like that on Venus, created in part by the interaction of the solar wind with the Martian atmosphere. On the other hand, it also has localized areas of <em>intrinsic<\/em> magnetic fields from the planet\u2019s crust. And there are larger-scale global influences as well.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists want to know how energy and matter from the solar wind make their way in and out of Mars\u2019 magnetic environment. NASA described the mission goals:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>ESCAPADE will analyze how Mars\u2019 magnetic field guides particle flows around the planet, how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through the magnetic environment and what processes control the flow of energy and matter into and out of the Martian atmosphere.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_524070\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-524070\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/10\/Escapade-blue-gold-James-Rattray-Rocket-Lab-USA-NASA-e1759843392425.png\" alt=\"Artwork of a brownish planet and 2 space probes headed there.\" width=\"800\" height=\"555\" class=\"size-full wp-image-524070\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-524070\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist\u2019s concept of the Blue and Gold probes on their way to Mars. Image via NASA\/ James Rattray\/ Rocket Lab USA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Details of the mission<\/h3>\n<p>The ESCAPADE mission is a relatively inexpensive mission with a design led by UC Berkeley. The twin spacecraft have a total cost of under $80 million. That\u2019s only about 10% the cost of sending a typical spacecraft to Mars.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue and Gold spacecraft are nicknamed for Berkeley\u2019s school colors. The probes will orbit the red planet, taking simultaneous observations from different locations. Scientists hope to see the real-time response of Mars\u2019 magnetic environment as it\u2019s buffeted by the solar wind.<\/p>\n<p>As with most questions astronomers aim to solve, this one also boils down to the big picture of life in our universe. Was Mars once habitable for some form of life? And could it be habitable in the future for a human population?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_369129\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-369129\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-369129\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2021\/08\/ESCAPADE-Blue-Gold-orbiters-Mars-orbits.jpg\" alt=\"Planet with large flat rectangle around it in colors and two satellites.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2021\/08\/ESCAPADE-Blue-Gold-orbiters-Mars-orbits.jpg 800w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2021\/08\/ESCAPADE-Blue-Gold-orbiters-Mars-orbits-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2021\/08\/ESCAPADE-Blue-Gold-orbiters-Mars-orbits-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-369129\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The twin orbiters will circle Mars in complementary orbits. They will sample the hot ionized plasma (yellow and green) and magnetic fields (blue lines) to understand how Mars\u2019 atmosphere escapes into space. Image via UC Berkeley\/ Robert Lillis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bottom line: The ESCAPADE mission will launch twin probes \u2013 Blue and Gold \u2013 to study Mars\u2019 magnetic environment. The launch on a New Glenn rocket is set for November 9, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Via NASA<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Kelly Kizer Whitt<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Kelly Kizer Whitt &#8211; EarthSky\u2019s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube &#8211; writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She&#8217;s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children&#8217;s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/escapade-mission-mars-gold-and-blue-probes\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue Origin will launch the 2nd flight of its huge New Glenn rocket no earlier than November 9, with the ESCAPADE spacecraft aboard. Current launch window for the ESCAPADE mission:&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":799061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-799060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=799060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/799061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=799060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=799060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=799060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}