09/26/2014

MAVEN Maneuvers Into Mars’s Orbit

12:08 minutes

At 10:24 p.m. EDT on Sunday, September 21, NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft began orbiting the Red Planet. After a 10-month trip, it has arrived just in time to catch a rare glimpse of a comet that will soon pass by Mars. “This is, at minimum, a once in a lifetime event but could be a once in a million year event,” says David Brain, a co-investigator on the MAVEN mission. He discusses how researchers are preparing for this comet close-up and what MAVEN might be able to uncover about the Martian atmosphere.

Segment Guests

David Brain

David Brain is co-investigator of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission, and an assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder in Boulder, Colorado.

Meet the Producer

About Becky Fogel

Becky Fogel is a newscast host and producer at Texas Standard, a daily news show broadcast by KUT in Austin, Texas. She was formerly Science Friday’s production assistant.