NASA Launches ESCAPADE Mission to Uncover Martian Atmospheric Secrets
Washington, D.C. – November 17, 2025 – NASA has initiated a groundbreaking mission to Mars, deploying a pair of diminutive, cost-effective orbiters designed to investigate the planet’s upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. The ESCAPADE (Acceleration, Space and Plasma Processes Around Mars) mission launched today, November 17, 2025, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, marking a new era in accessible planetary science.
This mission addresses a critical gap in our understanding of how Mars lost its once-substantial atmosphere,transforming from a potentially habitable world to the cold,arid planet observed today. By studying the processes driving atmospheric escape, ESCAPADE will provide vital data for assessing the long-term habitability of planets, including our own. The findings will inform future Mars exploration efforts and contribute to the broader search for life beyond Earth.
The two spacecraft, each weighing less than 30 pounds and costing under $130 million total, represent a novel approach to planetary exploration. Conventional Mars missions ofen involve large, complex, and expensive probes.ESCAPADE’s smaller size and lower cost-a fraction of the expense of missions like the Perseverance rover-allow for a focused investigation of a specific scientific question.
These orbiters will utilize a suite of instruments, including magnetometers, plasma analyzers, and electrostatic analyzers, to measure the composition and behavior of the Martian atmosphere at varying altitudes. Data collected will help scientists pinpoint the mechanisms responsible for atmospheric loss, such as solar wind stripping and the influence of the planet’s crustal magnetic fields.
The ESCAPADE mission is managed by the University of California,Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory,with support from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.Scientists anticipate receiving the frist data from the orbiters within several months, with the primary mission lasting at least six months. The mission’s success could pave the way for a new generation of affordable, targeted planetary science missions.
