Billions of years ago, Mars probably looked like Earth does now, with clouds and oceans and a much thicker atmosphere. But now it's a barren, frozen desert. Where did the air and water go? MAVEN -- short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution is the first mission dedicated to studying the red planet's upper atmosphere. MAVEN lifted off shortly before 1:30 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, starting a 10-month trip. It is predicted to reach Mars on September 22, 2014. The solar-powered probe is about the length of school bus. MAVEN will orbit between a low of about 93 miles above the surface to a high of about 3,728 miles. NASA says the mission will cost $671 million.
I think it is good that we are trying to find out more about other planets and what could have occurred there billions of years ago, however I think that spending so much money one one mission like this is a little much. That's just my opinion, but I think that much money could be put to really good use in other areas. I'm not saying that this is not a good way to spend the money, but when we are having so many problems just here on earth it's hard to imagine why so much money would be spent on a planet so far away.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/18/tech/mars-maven-mission/index.html?hpt=us_t3
I agree that it seems a little crazy to spend so much money on an experiment such as this one that has a possibility of not resulting in much success. The money could be used for something more useful, however, it will be interesting to see what information scientists can pick up from a planet we know so little about.
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