Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket Launches NASA's Twin Mars Orbiters
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying NASA's twin Mars orbiters named Escapade. This marked the second flight of the New Glenn rocket, and notably, the booster was recovered upright on a barge 375 miles offshore.
The two identical Mars orbiters, Escapade, will spend about a year near Earth at roughly 1 million miles away before executing a gravity assist maneuver to reach Mars in 2027. These orbiters are tasked with mapping Mars's upper atmosphere and magnetic fields and studying how solar wind interacts with Mars. The mission aims to better understand atmospheric escape and radiation protection for astronauts.
Managed and operated by UC Berkeley for NASA, this mission has a budget under $80 million. The launch had been delayed by four days due to inclement weather and solar storms that produced auroras visible as far south as Florida.
Looking ahead, Blue Origin plans to conduct a Blue Moon lunar lander demonstration mission using the New Glenn rocket in the coming months.
