CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Four towering lightning protection masts seem to stand guard as NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft, sealed inside its payload fairing, awaits liftoff aboard the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. MSL lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:02 a.m. EST Nov. 26, beginning a 9-month interplanetary cruise to Mars. MSL's components include a car-sized rover, Curiosity, which has 10 science instruments designed to search for signs of life, including methane, and help determine if the gas is from a biological or geological source. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
Location Cape Canaveral, FL
Date November 26, 2011