KSC-05pd-0968

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, cranes raise the first stage of the Atlas V rocket, designated AV-007, which will be lifted up into the launch service tower and mated with the second stage, the Centaur. The Atlas V is the launch vehicle for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The MRO is designed for a series of global mapping, regional survey and targeted observations from a near-polar, low-altitude Mars orbit. These observations will be unprecedented in terms of the spatial resolution and coverage achieved by the orbiter’s instruments as they observe the atmosphere and surface of Mars while probing its shallow subsurface as part of a “follow the water” strategy. The orbiter is in KSC’s Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility for final assembly and testing. The launch window begins Aug. 10.