With NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft sealed inside its payload fairing, the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rides smoke and flames as it rises from the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Nov. 26. 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.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA/Scott Andrews/Canon. - NASA/Scott Andrews/Canon
