NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) spacecraft is getting ready to enter Mars' atmosphere this weekend.

MAVEN will explore and travel through Mars' orbit as it studies the planet's atmosphere. Unlike Mars rovers Opportunity and Curiosity, MAVEN's mission is to measure the planet's atmosphere and learn more about its habitat and the effects of sunlight.

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MAVEN was launched on Nov. 28, 2013 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It's been travelling for 10 months into deep space and Sept. 21 will finally mark the end of its trek as it enters Mars' atmosphere and orbits the planet.

In order to "anchor" itself to Mars' atmosphere, the probe's thruster engines will fire so it won't be reeled in by the planet's gravitational forces but only long enough to be pulled into Mars' elliptical orbit.

MAVEN will then test its instruments for six weeks and after that, will orbit Mars' upper atmosphere for one year.

MAVEN's primary space mission is to figure out what happened to water and carbon dioxide during Mars' early formative period, according to Bruce Jakosky from the University of Colorado, Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.

The answer to this question will be pivotal to understanding the Red Planet's history and climate along with its capability for microbial life.

NASA confirms MAVEN is on schedule for its rendezvous with Mars. The probe will be monitored by ground control on Earth while most of its commands are going to be autonomous as it enters the orbit.

As MAVEN enters Mars' orbit on Sunday evening, its thruster engines will fire for about 33 minutes so it will slowly integrate into the planet's gravitational pull and place it in the upper atmosphere.

A delay of 12 minutes will be experienced even if NASA has full contact during the entire burn sequence due to the distance from Earth to Mars.

MAVEN's entry into Mars orbit can be seen live on Sept. 21 from 9:30 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. EDT on the NASA channel, or live streaming via their website at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems made this launch possible in collaboration with NASA.

TagsNASA's MAVEN Probe to Enter Mars This Weekend to Study Its Atmosphere, NASA, MAVEN, Mars, nasa mars probe maven atmosphere orbit, Lockheed Martin