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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On Launch Pad 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a crane lifts the second stage of the Delta II launch vehicle for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander to go into the mobile service tower. The second stage will be lifted into the mobile service tower and mated with the Delta's first stage. Phoenix is scheduled to launch Aug. 3. Phoenix will land in icy soils near the north polar permanent ice cap of Mars and explore the history of the water in these soils and any associated rocks, while monitoring polar climate. Landing on Mars is planned in May 2008 on arctic ground where a mission currently in orbit, Mars Odyssey, has detected high concentrations of ice just beneath the top layer of soil. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett