Briefly threatened with missing some or all of its limited launch window to Mars because of the partial government shutdown, NASA’s Maven mission on Thursday won approval from the space agency to resume preparations for a launch next month from Cape Canaveral.
“We have already restarted spacecraft processing at Kennedy Space Center, working toward being ready to launch on Nov. 18,” said Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator for the $671 million mission. “We will continue to work over the next couple of days to identify any changes in our schedule or plans that are necessary to stay on track.”