Names are on this spacecraft, which started its journey to Mars on 18 November 2014.

MAVEN stands for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN; it's a mission designed to study Mars' upper atmosphere and its interactions with the Sun. One key scientific question will be how quickly Mars' atmosphere is currently escaping into space -- the current loss rate is an important variable that controls models of what Mars' climate was in the past. Here's the MAVEN mission website, if you want to find out more.

Names were provided September 2011 to the mission for inclusion on the spacecraft and are on their way to Mars.

