Mission Timeline
MAVEN is slated to launch at 1:28 PM (EST) on November 18, 2013, for arrival at Mars on September 22, 2014. The first fuel burn will insert the spacecraft into a capture orbit with a period of 35 hours (the time it will take to make one complete orbit around Mars) and an altitude of approximately 590 kilometers. Shortly after Mars orbit insertion, a second fuel burn will place the spacecraft into its 4.5-hour period requirement for acquiring data. Three smaller burns will reduce the periapsis altitude (closest distance) of the spacecraft to approximately 150 kilometers, placing MAVEN within the required corridor and a 75° inclination elliptical science mapping orbit.
MAVEN measurements will be made from this orbit over a period of one Earth year, with five 5-day “deep dips” interspersed to sample the entire upper atmosphere.
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) will lead the mission design and will manage the mission design and navigation for MAVEN. Operational navigation is led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This schedule provides thorough coverage of solar conditions, local time, latitude, and crustal magnetic configuration, and ensures that we obtain the measurements necessary to achieve all science objectives.
MAVEN is scheduled for launch on November 18, 2013, arriving at Mars on September 22, 2014. (Courtesy MAVEN)
