(12/23/1997) --- NASA’s Lunar Prospector is prepared for mating to a Lockheed Martin Athena II launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral Air Station’s Launch Complex 46. Lunar Prospector, built for the NASA Ames Research Center by Lockheed Martin, is a spin-stabilized spacecraft designed to provide NASA the first global maps of the Moon’s surface and its gravitational magnetic fields. It will orbit the Moon at an altitude of approximately 63 miles during a one-year mission. The launch of Lunar Prospector is scheduled for Jan. 5, 1998 at 8:31 p.m. EST