ESCAPADE Spacecraft Development Images

  • Released Wednesday, August 21, 2024
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The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.

The first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to the Red Planet, ESCAPADE’s twin orbiters will take simultaneous observations from different locations around Mars to reveal the planet’s real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time. The data returned from the ESCAPADE spacecraft will provide new insight into the evolution of Mars’ climate, contributing to the body of research investigating how Mars began losing its atmosphere and water system.

The ESCAPADE mission is managed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, with key partners Rocket Lab, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space LLC, and Blue Origin.

The spacecraft were designed, built, integrated, and tested at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California. Based on Rocket Lab’s Explorer spacecraft, a configurable, high delta-V interplanetary platform, the duo features Rocket Lab-built components and subsystems, including solar panels, star trackers, propellant tanks, reaction wheels, reaction control systems, radios, and more.

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.Image Credit: Rocket Lab

ESCAPADE spacecraft development images at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California.

Image Credit: Rocket Lab

For More Information

See ESCAPADE Mission Homepage

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.
This page was last updated on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 at 3:12 PM EDT.