On September 6, 2024, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided to remove two twin spacecraft from the New Glenn launch scheduled for October of this year. These spacecraft, known as the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE), were created to explore the interaction between Mars’ magnetosphere and solar wind.
According to NASA’s blog, the agency decided to postpone the launch of ESCAPADE after reviewing the current launch preparations and having discussions with other parties involved, such as the Federal Aviation Administration. NASA’s main concern was that, if the New Glenn launch was to be delayed, fuel would need to be removed from the spacecraft. Not only can this process be very expensive, but it also poses technical and logistical challenges. Rescheduling ESCAPADE’s launch allowed NASA to avoid those challenges and focus more on their launch preparations.
Although ESCAPADE’s launch date was pushed back, NASA is still working to ensure that the spacecraft will be ready, as the mission will collect information critical to future explorations. The investigation will be divided into seven phases spanning two and a half years. ESCAPADE will spend several months of its mission in the primary science phase, where the spacecraft will investigate various properties of Mars’ environment. Each spacecraft will be equipped with three primary scientific instruments, the Escapade MAGnetometer, Escapade ElectroStatic Analyser, and Escapade Langmuir Probe, that will allow scientists to achieve a better understanding of Mars’ magnetic field and plasma environment, as well as observe the behavior of superthermal ions and electrons.
Currently, the ESCAPADE launch is expected to take place in the spring of 2025 at the earliest. However, the exact date remains unknown, as the alignment between Earth and Mars limits opportunities for potential launches. For ESCAPADE’s mission to be a success, NASA must complete its pre-launch protocol while also having an adequate margin of time before the scheduled launch date in case additional work needs to be done.
Many CA students are looking forward the launch, eager to learn more about Mars’ magnetic field and other properties of its environment. “I’m excited to see what the ESCAPADE [spacecraft] discovers,” said Ripley Bright ’25. Even though the launch was delayed, NASA, much like students at CA, believes the ESCAPADE mission will still provide critical information for future space explorations.