NASA | MAVEN Mission to Mars

NASA's MAVEN spacecraft is quickly approaching Mars on a mission to study its upper atmosphere. When it arrives on September 21, 2014, MAVEN's winding journey from Earth will culminate with a drama...

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex-41 liquid oxygen began flowing into the Atlas first stage booster for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission.

Download a PDF of MAVEN Frequently Asked Questions.

This graph shows how the amount of water in the atmosphere of Mars varies depending on the season.

This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft orbiting Mars.

The countdown is underway at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 where a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands ready to boost the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolutio...

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, N...

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket stands at Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida during a "wet dress rehearsal."

The payload fairing for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft arrives at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Following liftoff of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden congratulated the agency and contracto...

The MAVEN spacecraft is moved into the Thermal Vacuum Chamber (TVAC) at Lockheed Martin on May 16, 2013.

This infographic shows the various sources of carbon dioxide on Mars and their estimated contribution to Martian atmospheric pressure.

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Compex-41, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, along with other agency and contractor officials spoke to members of the news media about preparatio...

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage is lifted for stacking at Launch Pad 41 in preparation for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution,...

Conceptual image of wind (blue arrows) flowing over rugged Martian terrain and generating disturbances that propagate upward as atmospheric gravity waves (grey lines). 

These profiles show the brightness of auroras in Mars’ atmosphere at different altitudes. The solid black profile on the right is from a September 2017 solar storm. Barely visible along the vertica...

This graphic depicts what Mars' atmosphere would have looked like to a viewer with ultraviolet-seeing eyes after a meteor shower on Oct. 19, 2014. It combines an image from the Imaging Ultraviolet ...

The Magnetometer (MAG) is a part of the Particles and Fields (P & F) Package and measures interplanetary solar wind and ionospheric magnetic fields.

This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol 33, the 33rd Martian day of the mission (June 28, 2008), shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the...

MAVEN Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) delivered to Lockheed Martin.

The Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) instrument is part of the Particles and Fields (P & F) Package and determines the impact of SEPs on the upper atmosphere.

An Atlas V rocket is being prepared for liftoff at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41.

This is an image of the ultraviolet “nightglow” in the Martian atmosphere over the south pole. Green and white false colors represent the intensity of ultraviolet light, with white being the bright...

Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians test deploy the twin solar arrays on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution,...

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 ...