The first multi-spacecraft science mission bound for Mars is now en route, and making the journey alongside the twin probes are the first kiwis to 'fly' to the red planet.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission embarked on a 22-month journey to Mars on Thursday, launching aboard a New Glenn rocket. Upon arrival, the identical satellites will enter orbit around Mars to study real-time interactions between space weather and the planet’s hybrid magnetosphere, shedding light on the processes that led to Mars losing its once-dense atmosphere.
Directed by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, the ESCAPADE probes—named “Blue” and “Gold” after the university’s colors—are the first Mars-bound vehicles to be designed, constructed, and tested by Rocket Lab. Rocket Lab is a comprehensive space company headquartered in California, though it was originally founded in New Zealand.
This connection explains the presence of kiwis.
“Rocket Lab has a tradition of hiding kiwis in many areas of its design,” said Lindsay McLaurin, senior communications manager for space systems at Rocket Lab, in reply to an inquiry from collectSPACE.com. “The birds have sneaked onto our rockets and satellites since the beginning of the company, reflecting the New Zealand roots and serving as a challenge among our designers and spacecraft builders.”
The same Rocket Lab plates on the Mars ESCAPADE solar panels that depict the kiwi bird also carry the company’s logo, motto, and an American bald eagle icon.
Credit: UCB-SSL
The birds, native to the island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, are featured as graphics on twin plaques attached to Blue and Gold. These metal plates, embellishing one of the two solar panels on each probe, also display the Rocket Lab logo, the company’s motto, “Non Sufficit Hic Orbis” or “This World Is Not Enough,” along with a bald eagle icon.