The mobile
service tower, or gantry, prepares to move from away from the Delta II 7925
rocket carrying the Phoenix spacecraft, on Launch Pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station.
The Delta
II rocket is equipped with three stages and nine strap-on solid rocket motors,
the propellant needed to send the Phoenix spacecraft on its way toward Mars.
Launch took
place successfully early on the morning of Saturday, August 4 at 5:26 a.m. EDT.
Phoenix will land in icy soils near the
permanent, north polar ice cap of Mars, and explore the history
of water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar
climate.
The landing
on Mars is estimated for May 25, 2008, in a location on arctic ground where the
Mars
Odyssey spacecraft, currently in orbit, has detected high concentrations of
ice just beneath the top layer of soil.
Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
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