Capture Date: 2013-11-05T00:00:00Z
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. Ellen Stofan, NASA’s chief scientist, speaks to members of the news media. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft is in the background following encapsulation in its payload fairing. MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch on Nov 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Positioned in an orbit above the Red Planet, MAVEN will study the upper atmosphere of Mars in unprecedented detail. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett