^{Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians install a radome over the antenna for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft. The radome is a coated kapton cover providing thermal protection for the high gain antenna while not interfering with radio frequency transmissions from the spacecraft. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann}

MAVEN is slated for a spin test at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the spacecraft is being prepared for its upcoming mission to Mars. Processing activities remain on schedule and are progressing well since spacecraft processing resumed earlier this month following the 16-day federal government shutdown.

The spin test will check MAVEN’s balance at various spin rates up to 10 revolutions per minute. The next step for the processing team will be to fuel the spacecraft. The protective payload fairing for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is moving into the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility’s high bay cleanroom, where it will encapsulate the MAVEN spacecraft in early November.

The Atlas booster was hoisted into the vertical integration facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 on Oct. 11, and the Centaur upper stage was hoisted atop the Atlas three days later. United Launch Alliance has completed powering of the stacked vehicle for checkout.

MAVEN’s data will help scientists reconstruct the planet’s past climate. Scientists will use MAVEN data to project how Mars became the cold, dusty desert planet we see today. The planned one-year mission begins with the spacecraft entering the Red Planet’s orbit in September 2014.

The launch of MAVEN is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST.

Release Date: October 21, 2013
Source: NASA