MAVEN spacecraft lifts off, headed to Mars

TORONTO – Next stop, Mars.

NASA’s latest Mars spacecraft lifted off on schedule from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Monday afternoon.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft had a picture-perfect launch at 1:28 EDT atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

As of 2:20 p.m., NASA reported that MAVEN was released from the Centaur upper stage of the rocket and is now on its own.

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MAVEN now faces a 10-month journey as it traverses space on its way to uncovering atmospheric and climatic mysteries of the red planet.