NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft have officially departed their Earth loiter orbits and begun their independent interplanetary journeys toward Mars. After spending nearly a year orbiting Earth following their initial launch, the identical probes—conceived, led, managed, and operated by the University of California, Berkeley—made their final close passes by our planet to execute critical trajectory adjustments.
Funded by NASA's Heliophysics Division under the Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, the mission aims to study Mars using smaller-budget, innovative spacecraft designs. UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Lab leads the initiative in collaboration with key partners including Rocket Lab, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space, and Blue Origin. Following their departure maneuvers, the spacecraft are scheduled to enter Mars's orbit on September 9 of next year.
