2-Hour Launch Window for MAVEN
The launch team for MAVEN will have two hours to begin the flight on launch day. The window opens Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST and closes at 3:28 p.m. EST. The launch window is dictated by a number of factors, primarily the alignment of Earth and MAVEN’s destination, Mars. The spacecraft will fly into space on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket with a Centaur upper stage. It will take MAVEN 10 months to reach Mars and go into orbit before beginning its in-depth study of the upper atmosphere of the Red Planet.
