ESCAPADE begins its journey to Mars

ESCAPADE begins its journey to Mars

NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft have finally launched on their journey to Mars. Designed to study how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ patchy magnetic fields and drives the loss of its atmosphere, ESCAPADE is NASA’s first dual-spacecraft mission to the Red Planet and a major milestone for the SIMPLEx program’s small, low-cost planetary explorers. The mission began its voyage aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket after several weather and space weather delays, marking the vehicle’s first science launch.

We begin with Ari Koeppel, AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow and Space Policy Intern at The Planetary Society, who was at Cape Canaveral for the prelaunch activities. Ari shares what it was like to navigate repeated scrubs and even a powerful solar storm, along with the emotional experience of watching a spacecraft carrying an instrument he helped build begin its voyage to Mars.

Next, we are joined by Dr. Rob Lillis, ESCAPADE’s Principal Investigator and Associate Director for Planetary Science at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. Rob explains how ESCAPADE aims to unravel Mars’ complex space environment using two coordinated orbiters, why its measurements are key to understanding atmospheric escape, and how its innovative trajectory made the mission possible after the loss of its original rideshare opportunity.

Finally, Dr. Bruce Betts, Chief Scientist of The Planetary Society, returns for What’s Up to talk about why Mars produces aurora even without a global magnetic dynamo.


Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2025-escapade

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jaksot(1324)

2025 NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 2 — Hopping robots and the search for exoplanet magnetospheres

2025 NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 2 — Hopping robots and the search for exoplanet magnetospheres

In this second installment of Planetary Radio’s coverage from the 2025 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, host Sarah Al-Ahmed highlights more of the technologie...

22 Loka 20251h 1min

Book Club Edition: Space Craze by Margaret Weitekamp

Book Club Edition: Space Craze by Margaret Weitekamp

The American fascination with spaceflight and what we might find out there began long before any human left Earth. It’s Dr. Margaret Weitekamp’s job to collect, document, and preserve the cultural art...

17 Loka 202555min

2025 NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 — Lunar glass and starshades

2025 NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Symposium: Part 1 — Lunar glass and starshades

Each year, NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC) funds visionary ideas that could shape the future of space exploration. In this first of two episodes from the 2025 NIAC Symposium in Phil...

15 Loka 202553min

A Day of Action to save NASA science

A Day of Action to save NASA science

On October 6, 2025, hundreds of space advocates from across the United States joined The Planetary Society and 20 partner organizations on Capitol Hill to deliver one clear message: protect NASA’s sci...

8 Loka 20251h

Space Policy Edition: China’s growing space science ambitions

Space Policy Edition: China’s growing space science ambitions

If the United States is indeed in a space race with China, then we cannot abandon space science. That’s the claim made by Maxwell Zhu and The Planetary Society’s chief of space policy, Casey Dreier, i...

3 Loka 202548min

Perseverance finds potential biosignatures in Jezero Crater

Perseverance finds potential biosignatures in Jezero Crater

NASA’s Perseverance rover has made one of its most intriguing discoveries yet in Jezero Crater. A rock sample called Sapphire Canyon, drilled from the Bright Angel formation, contains unusual chemical...

1 Loka 20251h

Bill Nye: A star in Hollywood, a voice for NASA

Bill Nye: A star in Hollywood, a voice for NASA

Bill Nye, CEO of The Planetary Society, has officially joined the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In this episode, we speak with Bill about what this rare honor means to him and to science communication. Then...

24 Syys 202556min

Book Club Edition: Cosmos Award–winning author Dava Sobel

Book Club Edition: Cosmos Award–winning author Dava Sobel

Only six people have received The Planetary Society’s Cosmos Award for Outstanding Public Presentation of Science. We were honored to present it to author and historian Dava Sobel in May of 2025. She ...

19 Syys 202550min

Suosittua kategoriassa Tiede

tiedekulma-podcast
rss-mita-tulisi-tietaa
rss-poliisin-mieli
rss-metsantuntijat-podcast
filocast-filosofian-perusteet
rss-duodecim-lehti
mielipaivakirja
rss-astetta-parempi-elama-podcast
rss-tiedetta-vai-tarinaa
rss-luontopodi-samuel-glassar-tutkii-luonnon-ihmeita
university-of-eastern-finland
utelias-mieli
docemilia
menologeja-tutkimusmatka-vaihdevuosiin
rss-bios-podcast
rss-ranskaa-raakana
rss-ylistys-elaimille
rss-lapsuuden-rakentajat-podcast
rss-lihavuudesta-podcast
rss-sosiopodi