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.

ESCAPADE will analyze how Mars’ magnetic field guides particle flows around the planet, how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through the magnetosphere, and what processes control the flow of energy and matter into and out of the Martian atmosphere. 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. IMAGE CREDIT: NASA