KSC-2011-7660

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- At Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a lifting device is attached to the Atlas V payload fairing containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft. The fairing, which protects the payload during ascent, will be lifted and mated to the Atlas V rocket already in place at the launch pad. MSL was prepared for launch in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett