Ten months and 442M miles later, NASA’s Maven set to reach Mars orbit

Shortly before 10p ET on Sunday, NASA plans on having its Maven spacecraft begin a maneuver to enter the Martian orbit. If the satellite successfully reaches its destination, it marks a huge accomplishment for NASA's first spaceship dedicated to exploring the Red Planet's upper atmosphere.

Maven, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, has gone 442 million miles during 10 months of interplanetary travel. But tonight marks the culmination of 11 years of planning and development, leaving Maven in position to begin the mission's science phase. By closely monitoring Mars' atmosphere, NASA hopes the satellite will allow them to investigate the planet like never before—launching thorough studies into Mars' history, present climate, and potential to support life.

NASA's most recent Maven update says all spacecraft systems are operating nominally and the orbiter is on track. According to the organization, tonight's procedure involves having it turn in order to point its main engines in the proper direction before firing them to slow down the spacecraft enough to be captured into Mars orbit.