SPACEPHOTOS

(04/07/2001) --- With umbilical lines still attached, the Boeing Delta II rocket, on Launch Complex 17, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, is spotlighted as it waits for the tower to pull away and get ready for launch. The rocket carries the 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Liftoff is scheduled for 11:02 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After an approximate 7-month journey, Mars Odyssey will orbit the planet Mars. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will map the Martian surface looking for geological features that could indicate the presence of water, now or in the past. Science gathered by three science instruments on board will be key to future missions to Mars, including orbital reconnaissance, lander and human missions