Mars MAVEN Lifts Off; NASA's New Orbiter Will Arrive at Red Planet Days Ahead of Indian Mars Mission

Mars MAVEN spacecraft was launched by NASA today to give scientists a better understanding of the Red Planet's atmosphere. The MAVEN spacecraft will reach Mars' orbit in 10 months. It will make scientific observations of the Red Planet for at least one Earth year.

According to NASA the Mars MAVEN orbiter, which is mounted on top an Atlas V rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 1:28 p.m. EST, disappearing through clouds after about a minute into the flight.

The Mars MAVEN liftoff was so powerful it set off car alarms at the Kennedy Space Center. Mars MAVEN is NASA's 21st mission to the planet since the 1960s.

NASA says the first stage and payload fairing separated as planned. The space agency also announced that the first of two Centaur upper stage engine burns began on time.

MAVEN is the first mission dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere and history of the planet's climate change. Mars MAVEN cost $671 million. The Mars MAVEN craft is 2.7-tons and has a 37.5-foot span.

MAVEN stands for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN." The orbiter houses eight science instruments that carry nine sensors. MAVEN will study the makeup of the upper atmosphere of Mars. It will also record how the planet reacts to solar wind and storms that scientists theorize strip away  molecules over time. Once science can determine what is eating Mars' atmosphere slowly now and combine those findings with historical models of solar activity, mission scientists will be able to figure out how the atmosphere and climate change on Mars over billions of years.

The new Mars orbiter, MAVEN, will give data to tell the story behind what scientists call The Great Escape: the disappearance of a thick, moist atmosphere that converted Mars from warm, wet plant that was may have been hospitable to life into a cold and dry plane.

This is the last mission on the books for a 20-year program to study the red planet. Each mission was designed to lay the groundwork for the next mission.

The MAVEN craft was built based on tweaks from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's design. In the last mission scientists learned how Mars'  atmosphere evolved over time and the factors that thinned it.

MAVEN will work closely with the Curiosity rover, which is crossing the Gale Crater on its way to Mt. Sharp. Curiosity will explore rock formations to reveal more about the surface environment on Mars.

During a prelaunch briefing Friday, Omar Baez, a mission launch director said MAVEN "is not as sexy as the rovers going over the planet. This is kind of like a weather satellite for Mars....It's real science."

In August 2012, after Curiosity landed on Mars, MAVEN's lead scientist Bruce Jakosky, a planetary scientist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said "I think it's that valuable and that important for understanding Mars."

MAVEN should arrive at Mars about two days ahead of India's orbiter. India's $71-million Mars Orbiter which was launched Nov. 5, will remain in orbit around Earth until Nov. 30, when India's space agency will ignite the final engine burn and set it on course for Mars.