In an exciting week for listeners following the exploration of Mars, the space community has seen a major update on NASA’s upcoming EscaPADE mission. This mission, which features twin spacecraft designed to study the interactions between solar wind and the Martian atmosphere, will finally take flight on the second-ever launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin announced just days ago, on July 17, that EscaPADE will launch no earlier than August 15 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This comes after a series of delays, including a failed attempt to launch last year due to concerns about the rocket’s readiness and a potential risk of increased costs for NASA. The two identical probes, built by Rocket Lab, will spend about a year at the Sun-Earth L2 point, observing space weather, before heading to Mars, with arrival anticipated in 2027. The mission will fill gaps in our knowledge about how Mars’ weak magnetosphere responds to the sun, which is essential for future human exploration and for protecting crews and spacecraft from solar radiation. NASA’s associate administrator for science, Nicky Fox, highlighted that these studies of the Martian atmosphere will offer key insights as humanity looks forward to crewed missions deeper into the solar system, where space weather becomes a bigger concern.

Meanwhile, established rover operations on Mars continue to deliver science milestones. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has been exploring the Jezero crater rim for over four years and covering more than 37 kilometers, recently had its 2025 joint science team meeting hosted by the University of Oslo. Key findings discussed this month include new observations of spherules at Witch Hazel Hill. Scientists believe these features could hold the best clues yet to the origins of Jezero crater’s rock layers, helping to piece together the geological history of Mars.

Not to be outdone, the Curiosity rover, after nearly 13 years of operation, is still making discoveries in Gale crater. As of July 15, Curiosity has been active on Mars for an impressive 4,600 sols, or over 4,726 Earth days. Recent uploads from Curiosity show stunning images of Martian surface features, including unusual ‘boxwork’ patterns resembling spiderwebs, further fueling curiosity about the planet’s geology and climate.

The steady progress of Perseverance and Curiosity, along with the imminent EscaPADE launch, points to a robust future for Mars science. Listeners, thank you for tuning in and make sure to subscribe for more updates on all things Mars and beyond. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.