ESCAPADE Mars Launch

Go ESCAPADE! Go Mars! NASA’s latest mission to the Red Planet, known as ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers), successfully launched atop the mighty New Glenn rocket yesterday, beginning its long journey to Mars. Built by Rocket Lab, ESCAPADE consists of two twin spacecraft that will study Mars’ magnetosphere and investigate how the planet lost most of its atmosphere, transforming it from a once warmer world into the dry desert planet we see today. Because the Earth–Mars launch window isn’t currently aligned, the probes won’t head straight to Mars. Instead, they’ll spend nearly a year orbiting the Sun before using Earth’s gravity to slingshot toward Mars in late 2026, with arrival expected in 2027. The launch also marked an exciting milestone for Blue Origin: the first successful landing of the New Glenn booster. New Glenn is now among the most powerful rockets in the world, joining the ranks of NASA’s SLS and SpaceX’s Starship, and its reusable first stage adds a major new player to heavy-lift spaceflight. Credit: NASA/Blue Origin