KSC-05pd-1436

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, workers from Lockheed Martin deploy the newly installed solar array on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). After solar array testing, the MRO will be transported to the Vertical Installation Facility in late July. It will join the Atlas V for the final phase of launch preparations. The spacecraft is then scheduled to undergo a functional test, and a final week of integrated testing and closeouts. The MRO was built by Lockheed Martin for the 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.