CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - What happened to Mars? How did a planet with an atmosphere and flowing water millions of years ago turn into the rocky desert the Curiosity rover is rolling over today?
NASA is launching a new spacecraft toward Mars this month hoping to get more answers. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft will be the first to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere. Scientists think something happened there to cause the planet's climate to change.
Check out the video above to get an inside look at the mission, the mystery and the magnetism that keeps drawing scientists to Mars. The launch window opens in Florida Nov. 18 for an Atlas V rocket built in Decatur to lift off with MAVEN on board. MAVEN won't reach Mars orbit until September, 2014, however, so be patient for the answers.