Another mission to Mars is on tap and will launch from the Space Coast.

This time a probe will study the red planet's atmosphere to better understand if it could have once supported life.

The Maven spacecraft will set its sights on the upper atmosphere of Mars, the first such mission to do so.

Previous ones, like the Curiosity rover, are on the surface, studying the dry, barren planet itself.

But scientists believe looking high above the planet will unlock some answers to what is once believed to be a wet place with lots of water that might have supported life.

"Scientists are very interested to find out what's happened over time to make this climate evolve like it has," said David Mitchell, NASA Project Manager.

"Today the atmosphere is too thin to support liquid water on the surface. It would immediately evaporate. So that's the big scientific question -- what happened to the atmosphere?” added Guy Beutelschies, Lockheed Martin Program Manager.

The 37-foot-long, nearly 2,000-pound solar powered spacecraft will fly as low as around 100 miles over the planet, to an orbit of more than 3,700 miles as it collects data.

The goal is to take measurements allowing scientists to study the atmosphere as it is now and figure out how it deteriorated over time.

It's taken a decade to get the spacecraft to this point, as it sits inside a clean room at the Kennedy Space Center.

Scientists there are meticulously readying the probe for its mission, now just a few weeks away.

MAVEN will launch atop an Atlas V rocket, but its window of opportunity is narrow for the 10-month trip to begin.

Liftoff must happen in a 20-day period or it will have to wait another 26 months for Earth and Mars to align for another try.

"Schedule is king. We've got to do things safely," said Mitchell.

The MAVEN spacecraft is set to launch from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 18.

The window is from 1:47 p.m. to 3:47 p.m.