| USA TODAY | - |
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's orbiter to Mars lifted off as scheduled
Monday to study the atmosphere on the red planet. Maven, sitting atop an
Atlas V rocket, launched from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station, Fla.
NASA's
newest robotic explorer, Maven, is on its way to Mars. The Maven
spacecraft blasted off aboard an unmanned rocket from Cape Canaveral on
Monday. (Nov. 18) AP
Maven's mission is to study the makeup of the upper atmosphere of the red planet.
Maven, sitting atop an Atlas V rocket, launched from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 1:28 p.m. EST. The liftoff produced a tremendous rumble that set off car alarms at nearby Kennedy Space Center.
STORY: NASA orbiter to begin trek to Mars
The rocket disappeared through clouds about a minute into flight.
The first stage and payload fairing separated as planned, and the first of two Centaur upper stage engine burns began on time.
The Maven spacecraft will take 10 months to reach orbit around Mars, where it will perform science observations for at least one Earth year.
Maven — short for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN" — has eight science instruments carrying nine sensors that will study the makeup of the upper atmosphere, and how it reacts to solar wind and storms thought responsible for stripping molecules away over time.
By understanding what's eating away at the atmosphere at slow rates today, and combining that with historical models of solar activity, mission scientists will be able to extrapolate how Mars' atmosphere and climate changed over billions of years.
This is NASA's 21st mission to Mars since the 1960s. But the $671 million mission is the first one dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere and history of climate change.
The spacecraft, at 5,410 pounds, weighs as much as an SUV. From solar wingtip to wingtip, it stretches 37.5 feet, about the length of a school bus.
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