The MAVEN mission launched on an Atlas V November 18, 2013. After a ten-month
ballistic cruise phase, Mars orbit insertion occurred on September 22, 2014.
Following a 5-week transition phase, the spacecraft began orbiting Mars at a
75 inclination, with a 4.5 hour period and periapsis altitude of 140-170 km
(density corridor of 0.05-0.15 kg/km3). Over a one-Earth-year period,
periapsis will precess over a wide range of latitude and local time, while
MAVEN obtains detailed measurements of the upper atmosphere, ionosphere,
planetary corona, solar wind, interplanetary/Mars magnetic fields, solar EUV
and solar energetic particles, thus defining the interactions between the Sun
and Mars.  MAVEN will explore down to the homopause during a series of five
5-day ?deep dip? campaigns for which periapsis will be lowered to an
atmospheric density of 2 kg/km3 (~125 km altitude) in order to sample the
transition from the collisional lower atmosphere to the collisionless upper
atmosphere. These five campaigns will be interspersed though the mission to
sample the subsolar region, the dawn and dusk terminators, the anti-solar
region, and the north pole.