Curiosity’s Backshell

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, known as Curiosity, is being prepared to be moved to a rotation fixture for testing. The spacecraft's backshell (right), which carries the parachute and several components used during later stages of entry, descent and landing, also is visible in the image. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V-541 configuration will be used to loft MSL into space. Curiosity's 10 science instruments will search for habitable environments on Mars that could support life, past or present. The unique rover will carry a laser to look inside rocks and release the gasses so that its spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth, as well as sophisticated chemistry experiments and high-powered microscopes. MSL is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Nov. 25. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/msl.