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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At the Vertical Integration Facility on Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Lockheed Martin Centaur second stage is being raised to a vertical position for lifting into the launch tower and mating with the Atlas V already there. 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 launch window for the MRO begins Aug. 10.