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MAVEN Trivia Questions

How much do you really know about MAVEN? Below are 8 true or false statements. Click each one to reveal the answer and explanation.

1.

MAVEN's orbit is highly elliptical, dipping as low as 150 km above the Martian surface to sample the atmosphere.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

To study the upper atmosphere directly, MAVEN's periapsis is about 150 km, well below typical orbital altitudes.

2.

MAVEN's full name is 'Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN' and it studies the Martian upper atmosphere.

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Easy
✓ TRUE

MAVEN indeed stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, launched in 2013 to explore how Mars lost its atmosphere.

3.

MAVEN's data helped confirm that solar wind stripped away most of Mars' ancient atmosphere.

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Medium
✓ TRUE

MAVEN measured atmospheric escape rates, showing solar wind erosion was the primary driver of Mars' atmosphere loss over billions of years.

4.

MAVEN was built and operated entirely by the private company SpaceX under a NASA contract.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

MAVEN was built by Lockheed Martin and managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center; SpaceX had no role in it.

5.

MAVEN carries a magnetometer to directly measure Mars' global magnetic field.

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Medium
✗ FALSE

Mars lacks a global magnetic field today; MAVEN measures localized crustal magnetic fields, not a planet-wide one.

6.

MAVEN made the first direct detection of auroras on Mars, caused by protons from the solar wind.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

In 2015, MAVEN observed proton auroras across Mars' dayside, a phenomenon invisible to the human eye but detected by UV instruments.

7.

MAVEN was the first spacecraft to use aerobraking to lower its orbit around Mars.

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Hard
✓ TRUE

MAVEN pioneered aerobraking in the Martian atmosphere to save fuel, gradually dipping into the upper atmosphere to slow down.

8.

MAVEN can communicate with Earth using a laser-based optical system for faster data transmission.

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Hard
✗ FALSE

MAVEN uses standard radio frequency communication (X-band); no laser communication system is onboard.

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