Maven Launch on 11/18/2013

We were at Cape Canaveral on November 18th for the Maven (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) Launch. The day before the launch, we toured the Vehicle Assembly building and saw the launch pad with the Atlas V rocket, Centaur, and Maven (at the top) from the fence surrounding it. 

Our viewing location for the launch was on the causeway that crosses the Banana River. We boarded the bus about 3 hours before the launch, ate a picnic lunch sitting on beach towels (fortunately we were not in an area with fire ants), and used an umbrella for shade when it got a little hot. The clouds built up right before the launch time…but not enough to stop the launch at the very beginning of the planned window. The slide show below includes some selected pictures. They don’t capture the most stunning part of a launch: the sound. It is sound that is felt as much as heard … different from any other experience I’ve had … and well worth the effort! A launch is a celebration of accomplishment; the mission is built and on its way. It will be months before the science phase of the mission starts when it gets to Mars.