NASA Launches MAVEN Probe in Quest to Understand Mars' Atmosphere [VIDEO]

NASA's probe designed to study the evolution of Mars' atmosphere launched Monday afternoon on its journey to the Red Planet.

Known as the Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, the device took off aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 1:28 p.m., with the separation of the two scheduled for a little less than one hour later.

The MAVEN mission marks the first mission entirely focused on understanding Mars' upper atmosphere. Specifically, researchers hope to gain insight as to the effect of the planet's loss of atmospheric gas into space in the Martian climate throughout the years.

"Where did the atmosphere - and the water - go?" officials write on the mission's homepage.

By measuring the current rate of escape into space as well as other insights, MAVEN will help scientists estimate just how much of Mars' atmosphere has been lost over time.

"Mars is a complicated system, just as complicated as the Earth in its own way," the mission's principal investigator Bruce Jakosky said in a statement. "You can't hope, with a single spacecraft, to study all aspects and to learn everything there is to know about it. With MAVEN, we're exploring the single biggest unexplored piece of Mars so far."

Preparations for MAVEN were able to proceed during the recent government shutdown after NASA officials determined it met the requirements for an emergency exception. According to Jakosky, the mission was needed to ensure NASA would be able to to stay in touch with the rovers Curiosity and Opportunity.

"Launching MAVEN in 2013 protects the existing assets that are at Mars today," he said at the time the decision was made.

Had preparations been delayed, the possibility remained that the launch would have had to wait until 2016 due to orbital mechanics.