Where Did The Air Go? Bruce Jakosky on the MAVEN Mars Mission

Not just the air. Where is the water that was plentiful on the red planet billions of years ago? MAVEN may help answer these questions. Principal Investigator Bruce Jakosky reports on the early, exciting science data. Emily Lakdawalla brings us Curiosity and Rosetta updates from the AGU conference in San Francisco. Bruce Betts and Mat Kaplan have another iTelescope.net account to award on What’s Up. Bill Nye has the week off.

Related Links:

• UC Boulder MAVEN Website
• MAVEN Principal Investigator Bruce Jakosky
• Dramatic visualization of a very wet, ancient Mars becoming the dry world of today

This week's prize is a 200 point account with iTelescope.net, valued at $200 US, for astronomical observation from instruments throughout the world.

This week's question:

Of spacecraft that have visited at least one giant planet (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) which spacecraft had the greatest dry mass?

To submit your answer:

Complete the contest entry form at http://planetary.org/radiocontest or write to us at [email protected] no later than Tuesday, December 30, at 8am Pacific Time. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Last week's question:

There is a US penny on the Curiosity rover. What year was that penny minted?

Answer:

The answer will be revealed next week.

Question from the week before:

What US Navy ship recovered the Orion capsule?

Answer:

The USS Anchorage recovered the Orion capsule after its test mission.