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NASA Announces Next Mars Mission

Posted by kdawson on from the next-planet-from-the-sun dept.

Grant Henninger writes "Today, NASA announced their final selection for the Mars Scout 2013 mission: Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN. MAVEN will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars's evolution by measuring characteristics of its atmospheric gases, upper atmosphere, solar wind, and ionosphere. The mission, estimated to cost $485M, is scheduled for launch in late 2013."

1 of 152 comments (clear)

  1. Re:What about digging too? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why? Perfect example of how some industries can suffer due to a lack of private competition.

    The space race, when there was a "profit" to exploration gave us some of the most exciting 15-20 years. Now that its just another government program it'll stagnate and make little to no innovation.

    For further reading please see U.S. Public Schools.