NASA officials and university investigators outlined science plans for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN or MAVEN mission.

During a news conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA officials and university investigators outlined science plans for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, mission. Briefing participants included David Mitchell, MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer, or SWEA, instrument lead at the University of California at Berkeley.

MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch on Nov 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail. For information on the MAVEN mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett