NASA mission will study Martian atmosphere

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency plans a Mars robotic mission to study that planet's climate history and potential habitability in greater detail than ever before.

Called the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft, the $485 million mission is scheduled for launch in late 2013. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said it selected that mission from among 20 investigational proposals submitted in response to a NASA Announcement of Opportunity in August 2006.

"This mission will provide the first direct measurements ever taken to address key scientific questions about Mars' evolution," said Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program.

Mars once had a denser atmosphere that supported the presence of liquid water on the surface, scientists said. As part of a dramatic climate change, most of the Martian atmosphere was lost. The spacecraft, nicknamed MAVEN, will make definitive scientific measurements of present-day atmospheric loss that will offer clues about the planet's history.

"The loss of Mars' atmosphere has been an ongoing mystery," McCuistion said. "MAVEN will help us solve it."