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On Episode 210 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Dr. Robert Lillis of the Mars ESCAPADE mission.

Poor Mars. After a warm, wet childhood, the planet dried out and became cold and arid. And why? Mostly because it lost most of its atmosphere, scraped away by solar radiation. NASA's Maven mission studied the phenomenon of atmospheric loss for years, but has now gone silent.

Enter Mars ESCAPADE — the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers — twin orbiters that will study the loss of Martian atmosphere more closely than ever before. The mission has been executed at a budget price. It was largely built by industry upstart Rocket Lab, and launched on a New Glenn rocket. It will arrive at Mars in 2028, but we're giving you an early look at why it's an important and, frankly, very cool mission.

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NASA Outlines Preliminary Artemis III Mission Plans

NASA's Psyche asteroid probe will fly within 3,000 miles of Mars today: Here's what to expect

No, this isn't a solar eclipse. It's an image of Mars, captured by NASA's asteroid-bound Psyche probe

ESCAPADE

ESCAPADE - UC Berkeley

ESCAPADE Trajectory Animations

TOP TELESCOPE PICK:

Looking for a telescope to see planets and comets? We recommend the Celestron Astro Fi 102 as the top pick in our best beginner's telescope guide.

Finally, did you know you can launch your own SpaceX rocket? Model rocket maker Estes' stunning scale model of a Falcon 9 rocket that you can pick up now. The launchable model is a detailed recreation of the Falcon 9 and retails for $149.99. You can save 10% by using the code IN-COLLECTSPACE at checkout, courtesy of our partners collectSPACE.com.

This Week in Space covers the new space age. Every Friday we take a deep dive into a fascinating topic. What's happening with the new race to the moon and other planets? When will SpaceX really send people to Mars?

Join Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik from Space.com as they tackle those questions and more each week on Friday afternoons. You can subscribe today on your favorite podcatcher.