Technicians prepare to lift the Mars Science Laboratory MSL spacecraft and place it on a transporter for the move to Space Launch Complex 41.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare to lift the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft, enclosed in an Atlas V rocket's payload fairing, and place it on a transporter for the move to Space Launch Complex 41.

MSL's components include a compact car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for evidence on whether Mars has had environments favorable to microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release its gasses so that the rover’s spectrometer can analyze and send the data back to Earth. Launch of MSL aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is planned for Nov. 25 from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett