MAVEN to Mars

(Before It's News)

NASA’s tenth Mars-bound orbiter, MAVEN (short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN), lifted off for the Red Planet on Monday (Nov. 18) atop an Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Set to arrive in orbit around Mars in September 2014, MAVEN is the first probe dedicated to studying Mars’ thinning upper atmosphere.

• The Science Behind MAVEN, NASA’s Next Mars Mission
• Wrist-Sized Bone Scanner Could Fly To The Space Station In 2016
• New Models Aid the Search for Earth-Like Planets
• ‘Elephant Trunks’ Crowd Distant Star Cluster, Raising New Questions About Stellar Formation
• Anne’s Image of the Day: Emission Nebula RCW 120
• A Cosmic Intruder Grabbed Hot Gas From This Galaxy Group
• Comet ISON Grows Wings; Comet Lovejoy, a Fountain
• Comet ISON is now inside the orbit of Earth as it plunges headlong toward the sun for a fiery close encounter (List of possible scenarios)
• NASA’s MAVEN Mission Will Help Study Mars’ Depleting Atmosphere
• How NASA Kept MAVEN’s Launch Date During The Government Shutdown