
KSC-01PP-0646
On Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a worker begins removing the bottom panels from around the Mars Odyssey orbiter. The spacecraft is being mated to a Boeing Delta II rocket for launch scheduled at 11:02 a.m. EDT April 7. The spacecraft will map the Martian surface in search of geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past, and may contribute significantly toward understanding what will be necessary for a more sophisticated exploration of Mars