SPACEPHOTOS

(03/19/2001) --- In the Space Assembly and Encapsulation Building 2, an overhead crane lifts the 2001 Mars Odyssey Orbiter off its workstand while workers watch its movement. The orbiter is being transferred to a spin table (left, in the foreground) for testing. The orbiter carries three science instruments THEMIS, the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS), and the Mars Radiation Environment Experiment (MARIE) that will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface, the elemental composition of the surface and determine the abundance of hydrogen in the shallow subsurface, and characterize aspects of the near-space radiation environment with regards to the radiation-related risk to human explorers. The Mars Odyssey Orbiter is scheduled for launch on April 7, 2001, aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station