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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers are removing the solar panel from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. A major deployment test will check out the spacecraft’s large solar arrays. The spacecraft will also undergo multiple mechanical assembly operations and electrical tests to verify its readiness for launch. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. It is the next major step in Mars exploration and scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in a window opening Aug. 10. The MRO is an important next step in fulfilling NASA’s vision of space exploration and ultimately sending human explorers to Mars and beyond.