Mars is thought to have had abundant amounts of water flowing on its surface during its ancient history, but a catastrophic change in the climate saw the water vanish.
Understanding exactly where this water went is crucial for understanding whether life could have survived on the planet and what kind of planets outside our own solar system may support life.
Dr Bruce Jakosky, director of the Centre for Astrobiology at the California Institute of Technology and principal investigator for the Maven mission, said: "We see a lot of features on Mars that look related to water – the surface has been carved by water.
"The question is – where did the water and CO2 go. It could have soaked into the crust or it could have been lost into space.
"By studying the nature of the atmosphere today we will gather enough data to allow us to extrapolate to determine how gases have been lost over time.
"What we are trying to understand is the process that ultimately controls the habitability of a planet.
"On Earth we have a magnetic field that protects our atmosphere from the solar wind but Mars does not have a global magnetic field.
"We think what may have happened is that over time the atmosphere has been stripped away by the solar wind."
Maven, which was constructed by aerospace company Lockheed Martin, has undergone a suite of tests to ensure it will survive the launch and to prepare it for the vacuum of space.
However, final preparations were suspended earlier this week as Nasa was forced to close down due to the US Government shutdown.
Maven's systems were shut down at Kennedy Space Centre but on Thursday work began again as Nasa gave those working on project an exemption from the shutdown.
This is because the spacecraft, which measures 37 feet long with its solar panels unfurled, will also provide a crucial role in providing a communication link with Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover.
Curiosity, and its predecessor Opportunity, currently sends back data via two older satellites - Mars Odyssey, launched in 2001 and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched in 2005.
Maven will take about 10 months to reach Mars after launch and will then enter a swooping orbit at around 12,500 miles an hour.
Once there it will adopt an orbit that will cause it to rise and fall from 93 miles to more than 3,728 miles above the surface to gather data about the way the solar wind strips gas from the atmosphere.
It will also perform five "deep dips" where it will plunge to 77 miles above the surface.
Engineers at Lockheed Martin will operate the spacecraft during the mission
Guy Beutelschies, Maven project manager at Lockheed Martin, said: "We have a very different orbit from previous missions so we have had to adapt the spacecraft to this.
"The spacecraft is only going to be in contact with the Earth twice a week so we have had to put software on board to allow it to tell when it is grazing the atmosphere and when it is inside.
"This allows it to carry out science observations at the right time."
via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHjRCY-jmlXMfI9iwRIJvF4p-ZCoA&url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/10357561/Nasas-Maven-mission-to-search-for-Mars-missing-water.html
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