With a honk of its horn Monday morning, a flatbed truck rolled off a ship onto a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station wharf carrying the booster that will blast NASA’s next Mars-bound orbiter into space.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket’s Centaur upper stage, wrapped in a protective cover, followed close behind.
“It’s precious cargo,” observed Capt. Bob Martus of Foss Maritime Co., who safely piloted the two stages aboard ULA’s “Delta Mariner” on a more than 2,000-mile, week-long trip from Decatur, Ala.
The rocket will now be prepared for a planned Nov. 18 launch of NASA’s $671 million MAVEN mission.