This is the current working timeline.
It’s Instrument Suite I&T! Instrument teams are hard at work assembling, testing, disassembling, cleaning, retesting. Here’s EESA-e instrument lead Phyllis Whittlesey hard at work.
After some challenges over the summer following changing the separation and propulsion systems, the team at UCB and RL completed a successful CDR. From the Independent Review Board: The Escapade independent Mission CDR demonstrated stunning progress since the Spacecraft CDR in June. All the actions from SCDR were addressed. The Read more…
Press Release: Space company Rocket Lab plans to build new Mars spacecraft The University of California-Berkeley has chosen California-based space company Rocket Lab to build two spacecraft for one of the least expensive interplanetary missions in history, a scientific investigation of the Martian magnetosphere. Read more.
With Psyche’s launch targets unviable for ESCAPADE, we were removed from the Psyche launch manifest and provided an additional 9 months and $1.8 m to redesign the mission to be as flexible as possible in terms of launch. Article: ESCAPADE demanifested from Psyche launch
New and very different launch targets for the Psyche mission announced in May 2020 led to a scramble to redesign the ESCAPADE mission in just 2 months, stretching design margins to breaking point. Result: failed PDR :-(.
After 8 months of design work with a Rocket Lab USA and successful 2nd PDR, ESCAPADE passes its KDP-C on August 17, 2021, with a new target launch readiness date of May 2024. NASA press release Berkeley News article. Daily Californian article Rob Lillis Interview with Matt Kaplan on Planetary Read more…
NASA Planetary Director Lori Glaze calls Rob: ESCAPADE has been selected for Phase A/B study! Selection Day Videos on Twitter NASA Press Release KRON4 Bay Area News