Sep 22, 2014 01:55 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

NASA has confirmed its Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) has arrived at the Red Planet and is now is in orbit.

According to the Associated Press, MAVEN will examine Mars' upper atmosphere and hopefully provide an answer to why the planet became cold and dry. With evidence from multiple rovers on the ground, NASA believes Mars was likely once hosted some forms of life.

NASA's Colorado-based mission managers confirmed the $671 million mission successfully started its next major phase Sunday night. The University of Colorado's Bruce Jakosky and his team will spend the next six weeks checking MAVEN's science instruments and adjusting the spacecraft's altitude.

"It's taken 11 years from the original concept for MAVEN to now having a spacecraft in orbit at Mars," Jakosky, MAVEN's principal investigator with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo., said in a press release. "I'm delighted to be here safely and successfully, and looking forward to starting our science mission."

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden indicated MAVEN's findings will have a prominent role in one of the space agency's most lofty future goals.

"As the first orbiter dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere, MAVEN will greatly improve our understanding of the history of the Martian atmosphere, how the climate has changed over time, and how that has influenced the evolution of the surface and the potential habitability of the planet," he said in the release. "It also will better inform a future mission to send humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s."

On Mars' surface, the Curiosity rover is turning up compelling evidence pointing to a once-wet environment. Its ultimate goal is to reach Mount Sharp, a mountain in the middle of the Gale Crater.

"NASA has a long history of scientific discovery at Mars and the safe arrival of MAVEN opens another chapter," John Grunsfeld, an astronaut and associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the D.C. headquarters, said in the release. "Maven will complement NASA's other Martian robotic explorers-and those of our partners around the globe-to answer some fundamental questions about Mars and life beyond Earth."

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