Mission Managers Hail Successful MAVEN Launch

Officials Celebrate MAVEN Separation from Centaur

Nov. 18, 2013 -- In the Launch Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, agency and contractor managers and engineers celebrate as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft successfully separated from its Centaur upper stage as it begins its 10-month trip to the Red Planet.

MAVEN Spacecraft Launches to Mars                                                

NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft launches aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:28 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013.

MAVEN Launch Control

Nov. 18, 2013 -- In the Launch Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, agency and contractor managers and engineers monitor progress in the countdown to launch the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft atop an Atlas V rocket.

MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. The trip to Mars takes 10 months, and MAVEN will go into orbit around Mars in September 2014.

MAVEN on Its Way

Nov. 18, 2013 -- The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on a 10-month journey to the Red Planet. Liftoff was at 1:28 p.m. EST.