NASA launched the Mars probe

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) yesterday successfully launched an unmanned probe of MAVEN on Mars, to study the atmosphere and water on the planet.

>>>Video: NASA launches Mars probe

According to AFP, the Atlas V 401 rocket carrying the atmospheric probe and Mars evaporation process (MAVEN) leaves the scheduled launch pad at 13h28 (local time), from the US Air Force launch station at Cape Canaveral, Florida state.

The MAVEN ship separated from the rocket about an hour later and began the 10-month-long red planet exploration journey. Omar Baez, NASA's director of flight center, described the process of launching a spacecraft to the air that took place "perfectly". After flying about $ 671 million, the MAVEN spacecraft is expected to land on Mars in September 2014.

The Atlas V 401 rocket carries the MAVEN probe at the US Air Force launch station at Cape Canaveral, Florida.(Photo: NASA)

MAVEN's exploration mission differs from previous research missions of NASA. It does not focus on exploring the dry surface of the red planet, but instead collects physical samples in Mars's atmosphere. The purpose of this is to learn about the level of water vapor, the speed of water evaporation and discover the mysteries of the atmosphere that have never been studied by scientists before.

During operation on the surface of Mars, the MAVEN will have 5 trips down at 125km distance to conduct atmospheric exploration at different heights.

According to the researchers, this mission to explore Mars this time by the MAVEN seeks to find the missing information to explain what has happened to Mars's atmosphere billions of years ago, making it Red planets from a planet filled with water become as arid as they are today.

Earlier, NASA launched multiple probes on the surface of the red planet, including the latest Curiosity self-propelled probe launched last year.

On November 5, India successfully launched the first spacecraft to Mars, initially implementing its goal of becoming the only Asian country to successfully explore the red planet. The ship named Mangalyaan will carry out the mission to fly to the red planet orbit in 2014 in a 300-day journey.