ESCAPADE
NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) is an active two-spacecraft Mars mission studying how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and drives atmospheric escape. UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads mission management, systems engineering, science, navigation and operations, supplies electron and ion electrostatic analyzers, and processes and archives the science data. The University of Colorado Boulder is a mission partner, with CU Boulder researchers including project scientist Shannon Curry contributing to the science team.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics ExplorersESCAPADE Mission
- Name
- ESCAPADE
- Status
- active
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) is an active two-spacecraft Mars mission studying how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and drives atmospheric escape. UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads mission management, systems engineering, science, navigation and operations, supplies electron and ion electrostatic analyzers, and processes and archives the science data. The University of Colorado Boulder is a mission partner, with CU Boulder researchers including project scientist Shannon Curry contributing to the science team.
- Destination
- Earth–Sun L2 loiter orbit en route to coordinated Mars orbits (160–10,000 km) for studying the Martian magnetosphere and atmospheric escape
- Outcome
- Successful launch and active cruise. ESCAPADE’s twin orbiters launched on 13 November 2025 and entered an Earth–Sun L2 loiter orbit for a later Earth gravity assist toward Mars. They are expected to reach Mars in September 2027 and begin coordinated science operations in 2028 to study how the solar wind drives atmospheric escape and shapes Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere.
- Programs
- -
- Start Date
- 2025-11-13
- Vehicle Families
- -
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/escapade/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 13, 2026 at 18:03:20 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 15:56:56 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles
- -