For NASA's upcoming mission to the Red Planet, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover was rolled out of its processing facility on Nov. 3 atop the payload transporter at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Once at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, it was hoisted atop the Atlas V rocket for launch.
The Curiosity rover has 10 science instruments to search for evidence about whether Mars has had environments favorable for microbial life, including chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release the gasses so that its spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth.
MSL is targeted for liftoff on Nov. 25.