MAVEN Status Update: July 1, 2016

An artist’s rendition depicts a solar storm hitting Mars and stripping ions from the upper atmosphere. (Courtesy NASA GSFC)

Based upon the 2016 Planetary Mission Senior Review Panel report, NASA this week directed nine extended missions, including MAVEN, to plan for continued operations through fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Final decisions on mission extensions are contingent on the outcome of the annual budget process.

In addition to ‪‎MAVEN‬, other missions receiving NASA approval for extensions, contingent on available resources, are: New Horizons, Dawn, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the Opportunity and Curiosity Mars rovers, the Mars Odyssey orbiter, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and NASA’s support for the European Space Agency’s Mars Express mission.

Read the full NASA feature: http://go.nasa.gov/29dbXgj
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