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MAVEN Spacecraft to Study Martian Climate Change

WGCU | By Amy Green
Published November 18, 2013 at 8:33 AM EST
Robert Neff via Flickr

What happened to the water that once flowed on Mars?

That's the mission of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch today from Cape Canaveral. It's the first spacecraft sent to Mars' most unexplored region: its upper atmosphere.

Scientists believe ancient Mars' surface was similar to Earth's, with large bodies of water and blue skies mottled with white clouds. They want to know why the Red Planet's atmosphere thinned over time and its water disappeared.MAVEN's project manager David Mitchell says past missions focused on Mars' surface.

"This one is devoted to understanding the upper atmosphere at Mars, understanding it over a period of time of a year, to understand how it changed. And then project back in time", explained Mitchell. "What are the drivers behind it, the solar storms that happen, and how that influences the upper atmosphere when those kinds of things are happening?"

MAVEN's launch window is between 1:28 and 3:28 this afternoon. Weather conditions are less favorable Tuesday and Wednesday.

The spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas Five rocket. It'll take about 10 months for MAVEN to reach Mars.
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