NASA Taps Relativity Space for 2028 Mars Orbiter Mission Aeolus

NASA has teamed up with Relativity Space, whose CEO is former Google chief Eric Schmidt, for a Martian orbiter mission called Aeolus. Similar to its partnerships with SpaceX and other private companies, NASA will rely on Relativity Space to ferry its payload to its final destination. Schmidt's company will provide spacecraft, rocket and cruise operations to deliver the agency's science instruments to the Red Planet. They're hoping to launch sometime in 2028.

The agency says Aeolus will build on all the previous missions that have studied the Martian atmosphere, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Odyssey and the MAVEN mission, which it recently declared dead after six months of no contact. Aeolus will carry four complementary science instruments to Mars that will "provide the first integrated, daily, global view of Martian winds, temperatures, dust and clouds."

The first one is the Doppler Wind and Temperature Sounder (DWTS‑Ozone) that will measure wind and temperature profiles. There's also the Thermal Limb Sounder (TLS) that will provide vertical temperature profiles and observations of dust and water‑ice clouds. Meanwhile, the Surface Radiometric Sensor Package (SuRSeP) will measure surface energy balance, dust and cloud properties. Finally, the Wide‑Field Context Camera (WFCC) will capture global images of atmospheric activity every day. They will be designed and built by scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California.

NASA explains that by learning more about Martian dust, winds, temperatures and seasonal atmospheric behavior, we can reduce risks for future landings on the planet, whether crewed or uncrewed. The agency and other private space companies can use data collected by this project to fine-tune future spacecraft's entry, descent and landing systems.