NASA launches Mars atmosphere probe

On November 18, NASA launched the unmanned space probe MAVEN into Mars orbit to study the reason why the Red Planet's atmosphere has become too cold and thin to keep water in liquid form.

Project officials said the MAVEN spacecraft was launched at 1:28 p.m. local time on November 18 (1:28 a.m. on November 19 in Vietnam) from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida (USA) on an Atlas V 401 rocket.

The MAVEN spacecraft was launched from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (Source: Reuters)

Unlike previous NASA missions, the $671 million Maven mission is not aimed at studying the Red Planet's dry surface, but at exploring the mysteries of its previously unexplored upper atmosphere. According to researchers, "Earth's neighbor" has undergone a major climate change in the past, and MAVEN needs to find evidence of this.

MAVEN’s mission when it enters Mars orbit is to orbit the Red Planet at an altitude of 6,000 km and make five descents to an altitude of just 125 km above the Martian surface. With enough fuel to operate for nearly a decade, MAVEN will carry out many important research missions through the use of three sets of research instruments to analyze the characteristics of the wind, sun and ionosphere in the Martian atmosphere, thereby determining the structure and properties of this atmosphere.

The 2,456kg cube spacecraft is expected to begin its mission after completing its 10-month journey through space and entering Mars orbit on September 22, 2014.

With these projected milestones, MAVEN will shave two days off the journey of India's first Mars probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission.

According to the plan, India's Mars probe has a mission to detect the presence of methane gas to prove the existence of some ancient life forms on Mars, while the MAVEN spacecraft seeks answers about the climate change process on this planet.

Earlier in September, NASA's Curiosity rover sent back some information showing that the amount of methane in the Martian atmosphere was much lower than scientists had previously calculated, dashing hopes of finding traces of life there.

MAVEN is the 10th probe in NASA's ambitious space exploration program, including many probes and rovers launched to Mars to collect data, paving the way for a mission to send humans to this planet in the 2030s./.

According to VNA