The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) successfully launched its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft at 1:28 p.m. EST on Nov. 18, 2013 from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, U.S. MAVEN was reportedly launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket to orbit Mars also known as the Red Planet, for 10 months.

CREDIT: YouTube/NASAKennedy

According to NASA, MAVEN will record measurements of the upper atmosphere in Mars to help in the research of the said planet's climate change. The MAVEN's expected time of arrival (ETA) in Mars is Sept. 22, 2014.

An Atlas V United Launch Alliance rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Florida November 18, 2013. The Mars-bound MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Check out a photo of the MAVEN as it starts to take off:

An Atlas 5 United Launch Alliance rocket lifts off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Florida November 18, 2013. The unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Monday, sending a Mars orbiter on its way to study how the planet most like Earth in the solar system lost its water.REUTERS/Joe Skipper

See a video of the MAVEN before the launch as it is being rolled out from the Vertical Integration Facility of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station onto the Space Launch Complex 41 pad below:

CREDIT: YouTube/NASAKennedy

An update released by NASA on the 5,400-pound MAVEN spacecraft reports that its solar arrays are already deployed and producing power.

"We're currently about 14,000 miles away from Earth and heading out to the Red Planet right now," said David Mitchell, MAVEN Project Manager of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in the NASA report.

Check out a video of the MAVEN as it separates from Centaur Upper Stage:

CREDIT: YouTube/NASAKennedy

The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland (MD) reportedly manages the MAVEN launch project. It even provided two science instruments for the space mission to Mars. These will be added to the science instruments already provided by the Space Sciences Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley.

MAVEN's Principal Investigator is Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. Lockheed Martin is the one responsible for building the MAVEN spacecraft and overseeing its mission operations.

Check out a video of the NASA MAVEN Mission to Explore the Upper Atmosphere of Mars below:

CREDIT: YouTube/NASAKennedy

Other members of the NASA MAVEN team are:

  • NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) - radar astronomy observations and interplanetary spacecraft missions support (with three deep-space communications facilities placed around the world including one at Goldstone, in the Mojave Desert of California, one near Madrid in Spain and another in Canberra, Australia)
  • NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California) - navigation support
  • Electra Telecommunications - communications relay operations and hardware support

The 45th Space Wing of the U.S. Air Force also provided Eastern Range support for the launch of the NASA MAVEN.

On a side note, Country star Tim McGraw was filming at NASA and he was able to see the rocket takeoff. He tweeted about it on his official Twitter page. Check it out below:

Filming at NASA today. Watched rocket take off for Mars! Unreal experience!

— Tim McGraw (@TheTimMcGraw) November 18, 2013

NASA's successful launch of its MAVEN spacecraft which is headed for Mars is a great start to learn more about the Red Planet and whether or not humans can inhabit it in the future.

READ:

NASA New Satellite Missions: To Study and Predict Extreme Weather and Climate [PHOTOS]

30 Seconds To Mars March 2014 Tour In Australia Features White Lies [VIDEOS]