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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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NASA’s Maven spacecraft arrives at Mars after a yearlong journey

The Columbian
Published:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s Maven spacecraft was on track to reach the red planet late Sunday night following a journey spanning 10 months and 442 million miles.

If all went well, the robotic explorer slipped into Martian orbit for a year or more of atmospheric study. It’s designed to circle the planet, not land.

Maven will be the first spacecraft to focus on the upper atmosphere of Mars. Scientists said the Martian atmosphere holds clues as to how our neighbor went from being warm and wet billions of years ago to cold and dry. That early world may have harbored microbial life.

The $671 million mission began with a launch in November from Cape Canaveral.

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