SPACEPHOTOS

(01/05/2001) --- In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility 2 , an overhead crane lifts the crate covering the Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The spacecraft, which arrived from Denver, Colo., Jan. 4, will undergo final assembly and checkout. That includes installation of two of the three science instruments, integration of the three-panel solar array, and a spacecraft functional test. Launch aboard a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle from Pad A, Complex 17, CCAFS, is planned for April 7, 2001 the first day of a 21-day planetary window. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars on Oct. 20, 2001, for insertion into an initial elliptical capture orbit. Its final operational altitude will be a 250-mile-high, Sun-synchronous polar orbit. Mars Odyssey will spend two years mapping the planet’s surface and measuring its environment