Two NASA Probes to Return to Earth to Gain Speed for Mars
The ESCAPADE spacecraft will perform maneuvers on November 7 and 9. Earth's gravity and a nine-minute engine burn will direct them toward the Red Planet
Two spacecraft of NASA's ESCAPADE mission are preparing for a key stage of their journey to Mars. After nearly a year on an intermediate trajectory, they will pass near Earth and use its gravity to continue their flight.
The first maneuver is scheduled for November 7 at approximately 15:00 Tashkent time, the second for November 9 around 16:00. During closest approach, each spacecraft will fire its engine for about nine minutes.
The combination of the gravity assist and engine burn will alter their direction of travel and further increase their speed. The probes will then have about ten months of travel ahead. Arrival at Mars is expected on September 7 and 9, 2027, respectively.
ESCAPADE was launched on November 13, 2025. Instead of a direct flight, the spacecraft were sent on a waiting trajectory near the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2. This approach allowed them to wait for the optimal mutual positioning of the planets.
At Mars, the probes will study the interaction of the solar wind with the planet's upper atmosphere and magnetic environment. Simultaneous measurements from two spacecraft will help understand how these processes lead to the loss of atmospheric gas.
During the waiting period, the mission has already gathered additional scientific data: the spacecraft passed through a distant region of Earth's magnetotail. This is part of the magnetosphere stretched by the solar wind away from the Sun. According to NASA, researchers plan to present the results of these observations separately.
