NASA's Maven spacecraft has successfully entered the Mars orbit on September 21, it has been reported.
The spacecraft for a NASA mission to probe the climate history of Mars led by the University of Colorado Boulder slid seamlessly into orbit and crossed the last major hurdle of the 10-month, 442-million-mile journey.
The orbit insertion included the firing of several thruster engines to shed velocity from the spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or Maven mission.
The maneuver allowed the gravity of Mars to capture the Maven pacecraft into an elongated, 35-hour orbit. In the coming weeks Maven's orbit would be reduced to an elliptical, 4.5-hour orbit in order to collect science data.
Bruce Jakosky, Maven's principal investigator from CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said that it would be targeting the role that atmospheric gases played in changing the climate on Mars over the eons.
He further explained that clues on the Martian surface, including features resembling dry lakes and riverbeds as well as minerals that form only in the presence of water, suggested that Mars once had a dense atmosphere that supported liquid water on the surface.
Maven was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Nov. 18, 2013, carrying three instrument suites and is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the upper atmosphere of Mars.
