The MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) space probe has just been launched on an Atlas V 401 rocket from Cape Canaveral. The separation of the rocket stages happened smoothly and the spacecraft entered the orbit from which it will start its actual journey towards Mars.

The MAVEN spacecraft is the product of NASA’s Mars Scout program, which was intended to send a series of small probes to Mars. This program was closed in 2010 but the MAVEN mission was announced in 2008. Originally, a pair of orbiters were meant to be built but in the end it was decided to send only one.

The MAVEN mission’s goal is to study the atmosphere of Mars, which is now very thin but a few billion years ago was much thicker. A planet that when in its early days was in many ways similar to the Earth is today reduced to a barren wasteland and scientists are gathering data to try to better understand the reasons for this huge change.

The orbiter is equipped with a set of 8 instruments that include various analyzers which have the purpose of measuring ions and molecules present in the Martian atmosphere but also to determine the influence of the solar wind, considered one of the responsible for the loss of air into space. It will also be possible to examine the current evolution of the atmosphere.

The MAVEN spacecraft is large and at launch weighs almost two and a half tons (about 5,400 lb). Its orbit around Mars will be highly elliptical to allow it to drop down to about 150 km (about 93 miles) of altitude while reaching a maximum distance of 6000 km (3,728 miles) from the red planet. On some occasions it’s expected to fall to 124 km (77 miles) of altitude to take samples of the upper layer of the atmosphere.

The MAVEN mission was in danger of getting stuck due to the USA federal shutdown. Perhaps just resuming the activities wouldn’t have been enough to launch it on schedule but the space probe was granted an emergency exception because it will also be used as a communications link between the Mars rovers and their control centers on Earth. At the moment, this job is done by two other NASA’s probes but they’re old so they have limited reliability: the Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001, and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), launched in 2005.

The block of the MAVEN spacecraft’s launch would have postponed the mission for about two years because the launches to Mars must be carried out taking into account the relative positions of the two planets. It’s no coincidence that NASA’s MAVEN mission and the Indian MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission) were launch within a few days.

The two spacecraft should reach Mars in September 2014. NASA and ISRO – the Indian Space Agency – will collaborate by exchanging information because the two missions have some goals in common.

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