--- title: NASA's MAVEN Enters Mars' Orbit description: NASA’s Maven spacecraft entered Mars' orbit late Sunday night, with scientists hoping to discover what happened to the Martian atmosphere canonical: https://time.com/3416004/nasa-maven-mars-orbit-martian-atmosphere-volatile-evolution/ author: Elizabeth Barber article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-22T05:06:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:42.788Z article:section: Science og:title: MAVEN Enters Martian Orbit og:description: NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft began circling the Red Planet late Sunday night og:url: https://time.com/3416004/nasa-maven-mars-orbit-martian-atmosphere-volatile-evolution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteede04e67f462e46/6986a480cd804dd90bccce29/mars-maven_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1920 og:image:height: 1080 og:image:alt: Mars Maven og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: MAVEN Enters Martian Orbit twitter:description: NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft began circling the Red Planet late Sunday night twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteede04e67f462e46/6986a480cd804dd90bccce29/mars-maven_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The MAVEN Spacecraft Has Begun Orbiting Mars on a Yearlong Quest > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Elizabeth Barber](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 22, 2014 5:06 AM UTC  In this artist concept provided by NASA, the MAVEN spacecraft approaches Mars on a mission to study its upper atmosphere In this artist concept provided by NASA, the MAVEN spacecraft approaches Mars on a mission to study its upper atmosphere AP by [Elizabeth Barber](https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Sep 22, 2014 5:06 AM UTC Mars explorer MAVEN entered the Red Planet’s orbit late Sunday night, beginning a yearlong journey during which scientists hope to discover what happened to the Martian atmosphere. Mission managers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., received [confirmation](http://mars.nasa.gov/maven/) of MAVEN’s arrival at about 10:25 p.m. E.T. — about a half-hour after it began slowing down from more than 10,000 m.p.h. to enter Martian orbit. Narration of the orbital’s entry was broadcast beginning at 9:30 p.m. from Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ mission-operations center in Littleton, Colo. It took about 12 minutes for MAVEN’s signals to travel the 442 million miles to Earth. MAVEN – standing for Martian Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution – launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Nov. 18, 2013, and it will now take six weeks to turn itself on and test its systems. After that, the $671 million, bus-sized craft will spend one (Earth) year assessing the planet Mars’ atmosphere, in hopes of discovering how the Martian atmosphere is changing now and, in doing so, understand how it has changed over billions of years. Scientists believe that Mars and Earth were once sister planets, both of them green and wet. But, about 4 billion years ago, their fortunes diverged: as Earth incubated life in its thick, reassuring atmosphere, it’s thought that Mars somehow lost its magnetic field. That left it vulnerable to the spray of solar particles zooming through space, and, over time, scientists say, those particles winnowed the Martian atmosphere. Its land was buffed dry and brittle and its landscape turned freezing. MAVEN is NASA’s 10th Mars orbiter mission, three of which have failed. Three other spacecraft are in Mars’ orbit, two of which are NASA missions (the 2001 Mars Odyssey and the 2005 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), and one of which is a 2003 European Space Agency mission. Two rovers, Curiosity and Opportunity, are still active on Mars’ surface. Spirit, another rover, is still on the planet, but was deactivated in 2010. “Hello ‪@MarsCuriosity and ‪@MarsRovers! #MAVEN is looking over you. (In ‪#Spirit),” [tweeted](https://twitter.com/MAVEN2Mars/status/513880082033557505) the MAVEN mission, just after arrival. ### Journey to the Red Planet: MAVEN Approaches Martian Orbit  An artist concept of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Launched in November 2013, the mission will explore the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind. Lockheed Martin/NASA  The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA’s Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Bill Ingalls—NASA  NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, inside a payload fairing, is hoisted to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 on Nov. 8, 2013. Kim Shiflett—NASA  Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians perform a spin test of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. The operation is designed to verify that MAVEN is properly balanced as it spins during the initial mission activities. Kim Shiflett—NASA  Engineers and technicians test deploy the twin solar arrays on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 23, 2013. Kim Shiflett—NASA  Technicians install the parabolic high gain antenna onto the MAVEN spacecraft in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Aug. 9, 2013\. The antenna will communicate vast amounts of data to Earth during the mission. Jim Grossmann—NASA  A crane lifts the MAVEN spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Aug. 3, 2013\. The spacecraft was flown to Kennedy Space Center for launch processing from Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado near the Lockheed Martin facility in Littleton, Colo. Tim Jacobs—NASA  An engineer positions a sling on the MAVEN spacecraft inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. MAVEN will be prepared inside the facility for its scheduled November launch to Mars. 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