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NARRATOR: Welcome to Kennedy Now!, a monthly
look at some of the work taking place at America's

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premiere spaceport.

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Kennedy focused anew on Mars exploration in
August with the arrival of MAVEN, a spacecraft

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designed to orbit Earth's nearest planetary
neighbor and sample the upper atmosphere of

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the intriguing Red Planet.

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Powered by two solar array wings, MAVEN will
use its sensors to detect signs of the ancient

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Martian atmosphere and tell researchers what
happened to the planet that left it such a

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dry, barren place.

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Scientists want to know where the liquid water
that flowed on the surface went, as well as

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some of the volatile elements in the atmosphere
such as nitrogen.

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It will take several months to prep MAVEN
for the demanding mission which calls for

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the spacecraft to fly through deep space for
10 months before reaching Mars and going into

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orbit.

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and
its Centaur upper stage that will loft the

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spacecraft also arrived at the launch site
in August and began its own processing for

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the mission.

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NASA's Launch Services Program will oversee
the liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force

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Station, which is targeted for November.

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While one Kennedy program focused on the beginning
of a mission, another, NASA's Ground System

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Development and Operations Program, ran through
some of the precision techniques it will employ

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at the end of an upcoming mission.

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Navy divers working from the USS Arlington,
a well deck ship docked at the Norfolk Naval

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Base in Virginia, rehearsed the recovery of
an Orion spacecraft from the water using the

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same routine they will use following a mission.

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The recovery will look significantly different
from earlier eras when capsules were lifted

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by crane far above the seas and placed on
a deck.

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Instead, the well deck ship with its unique
covered area that can be flooded and dried

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on command, will allow the Orion to be towed
into place and the water drained from around

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it.

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That means astronauts returning from long
missions into deep space will not be jostled

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much, allowing them to adapt progressively
to their return to gravity.

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On the other side of the country, another
new spacecraft under development moved through

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an ambitious testing cycle.

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Working closely with NASA's Commercial Crew
Program, based at Kennedy, the Sierra Nevada

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Corporation lifted the Dream Chaser into the
sky above Edwards Air Force Base in California.

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The spacecraft was put through a tethered
rehearsal of the gliding and landing test

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flights it will make this fall as the company
proves its design.

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Called a "captive-carry test," the flight
was a vital step in a series of evaluations