We Have Liftoff! MAVEN Begins Journey to Mars

Today NASA successfully launched its next spacecraft toward the Red Planet, and so far things are going smoothly. Despite delays from the government shutdown, MAVEN (short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) headed for the skies on schedule at 1:28 PM this afternoon. The orbiter aims to get a clearer picture of the Martian atmosphere and how it has changed over time. As described in Popular Science, In short, the craft is taking a special orbit around Mars to sample many parts of