NASA MAVEN: Mars-Bound spacecraft at the Launch Pad

Two days before the scheduled launch to Mars, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft rolled out of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

MAVEN Spacecraft Positioned Atop Atlas V Rocket

NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) 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. 

The move and hoisting operations mark another major milestone for the launch team as everything proceeds on schedule to launch Nov. 18, when the Atlas V will lift MAVEN into space and on to Mars. 

The two-hour launch window extends from 1:28 to 3:28 p.m. EST.

MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. 

It will orbit the planet in an elliptical orbit that allows it to pass through and sample the entire upper atmosphere on every orbit. 

The spacecraft will investigate how the loss of Mars' atmosphere to space determined the history of water on the surface.

MAVEN Launch Information

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Landsat Data Continuity Mission and ULA Atlas-V Launcher: Pre-launch Checks

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket with the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) spacecraft onboard is seen on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) mission is a collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that will continue the Landsat program's 40-year data record of monitoring the Earth's landscapes from space. 

The spacecraft is scheduled to launch Feb. 11.

Photo Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls