The NOvA experiment is a long base-line accelerator based neutrino oscillation experiment. It uses the upgraded NuMI beam from Fermilab and measures electron neutrino appearance and muon neutrino disappearance at its far detector in Ash River, Minnesota. Goals of the experiment include measurements of theta13, mass hierarchy and the CP violating phase. NOvA has begun to take data this year and will have the first physics result in 2014. This talk provides an overview of the scientific reach of the experiment, the status of detector construction and physics analysis, as well as a glance at first data.
