(22 Sep 2014) NASA's Maven spacecraft has arrived at Mars after a 442 million-mile (711 million kilometre) journey that began nearly a year ago.
NASA launched the robotic explorer last November from Cape Canaveral, the 10th US mission sent to orbit the red planet.
Three earlier ones failed.
The spacecraft clocked more than 10-thousand miles per hour (16-thousand kph) when it hit the brakes for the so-called orbital insertion, a half-hour process, late on Sunday.
The world had to wait 12 minutes to learn the outcome, once it occurred, because of the lag in spacecraft signals given the 138 (M) million miles (222 million
kilometres) between the two planets on Sunday.
"Based on observed navigation data, congratulations, Maven is now in Mars orbit," came the official announcement.
Flight controllers in Littleton, Colorado, applauded the news and shook hands; laughter filled the previously tension-filled room.
Now the real work begins for the 671 (M) million US dollars mission, the first dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere.
Flight controllers in Colorado will spend the next six weeks adjusting Maven's altitude and checking its science instruments, and observing a comet streaking by.
Then in early November, Maven (short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) will start probing the upper atmosphere of Mars.
The spacecraft will conduct its observations from orbit; it's not meant to land.
Scientists believe the Martian atmosphere holds clues as to how Earth's neighbour went from being warm and wet billions of years ago to cold and dry.
That early wet world may have harboured microbial life, a tantalising question yet to be answered.
Maven will spend at least a year collecting data.
That's a full Earth year, half a Martian one.

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