Blue Origin plans to send twin NASA spacecraft to Mars in 2024.

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Blue Origin is aiming for Mars from low Earth orbit.

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NASA commissioned Blue Origin to launch the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission to Mars (ESCAPADE).

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If the booster is complete, Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket will launch the twin spacecraft in late 2024, taking the business beyond suborbital flight.

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ESCAPADE is scheduled to examine the magnetosphere, the magnetic zone of Mars' atmosphere, with two Rocket Lab-designed spacecraft.

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Two Mars-orbiting spacecraft will examine how the solar wind (charged particles from the sun) significantly eroded the atmosphere over aeons.

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Since Martian water flowed abundantly billions of years ago, mission results may help scientists understand how the planet dried out.

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Blue Origin was one of a handful of companies being considered for the position.

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NASA material calls VADR "new potential for science and technology payloads and encouraging a burgeoning U.S. commercial launch industry" (opens in new tab).

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