KSC-98pc1816

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At Launch Complex 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, the Mars Climate Orbiter is free of the protective canister that surrounded it during the move to the pad. Targeted for liftoff on Dec. 10, 1998, aboard a Boeing Delta II (7425) rocket, the orbiter will be the first spacecraft to be launched in the pair of Mars '98 missions. After its arrival at the red planet, the Mars Climate Orbiter will be used primarily to support its companion Mars Polar Lander spacecraft, scheduled for launch on Jan. 3, 1999. The orbiter will then monitor the Martian atmosphere and image the planet's surface on a daily basis for one Martian year, the equivalent of about two Earth years. The spacecraft will observe the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, and characterize seasonal changes on the planet's surface