MSL Encapsulated in Its Payload Fairing

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity and all its components have been encapsulated in the payload fairing that will protect them during ascent to Earth's orbit. The maneuver was completed inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.

“Curiosity will be placed onto the payload transporter on Tuesday and goes to Complex 41 on Wednesday, Nov. 2. The logo was applied to the fairing this weekend,” KSC spokesman George Diller told Universe Today in an interview.

The mission is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V delivery system on November 25. It launch window for an August 2012 arrival at Mars ends on December 18. Curiosity will analyze the Martian environment in order to track the planet's climate history, as well as analyze its ability to support life.

MSL will take off from the Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) installation, at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in Florida.