NASA's MAVEN Will Soon Reach Mars [VIDEO]

In less than two weeks, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft will complete its 10 month trek through space and enter into orbit around the Red Planet.

But first it will have to do a few acrobatics to slip into orbit just right. That's according to NASA, who recently announced that the MAVEN will soon begin orbit-insertion maneuvers that will finish up on Sept. 21.

"Six thruster engines will fire briefly for a 'settling' burn that damps out deviations in pointing. Then the six main engines will ignite two by two in quick succession and will burn for 33 minutes to slow the craft, allowing it to be captured in an elliptical orbit," the agency announced Monday.

And while that's all well and good, the MAVEN won't be done yet. Later this October, a large comet is expect to whip by Mars, trailing space debris that could hurtle towards the Red Planet's many orbiters at up to 35 miles per second.

That means that just as soon as MAVEN settles into orbit around Mars it will be asked to move again to ensure that it is on the other side of the planet when the comet streaks by. Talk about no time to get comfortable...

So what's MAVEN doing there anyways?

"We're the first mission devoted to observing the upper atmosphere of Mars and how it interacts with the Sun and the solar wind," said Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator for MAVEN at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

MAVEN's observations will help experts better understand the Red Planet's past, focusing on how much gas from its atmosphere has been lost to space and what processes drove that loss.

"MAVEN's orbit through the tenuous top of the atmosphere will be unique among Mars missions," added Jakosky. "We'll get a new perspective on the planet and the history of the Martian climate, liquid water and planetary habitability by microbes."