An engineer dressed in white cleanroom coveralls (called a "bunny suit") works on the rover upside-down in its "backshell."

The pre-launch period covers everything from initial mission design to all stages of building and testing the rover, its spacecraft and its launch vehicle prior to liftoff from Earth. It requires meticulous attention to detail and years of exertion to get everything right for a successful, on-time launch. While engineers work on building and testing, scientists at universities and research institutions throughout the United States and the world are planning their instrument observations and deciding how to make the best use of the rover's powerful capabilities.

In the pre-launch phase, Mars Science Laboratory is coming together from a collection of individual instruments and parts to an incredibly capable and sophisticated rover and spacecraft, thanks to countless and demanding hours of effort from a workforce of thousands of people. From concept to creation, this rough and tough rover will ultimately make its way from the cleanroom where it was built at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., to its final Earth-bound destination, Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Pre-launch activities include:

• Landing site selection
  The final landing site selection for Mars Science Laboratory is planned for 2010-2011

• Assembly and testing at Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  Engineers are assembling and testing the Mars Science Laboratory rover.

• Shipping the spacecraft to Cape Canaveral
  Prior to launch, Mars Science Laboratory will be transported to Cape Canaveral, Florida for its journey to Mars

• Assembly and testing at Kennedy Space Center
  The team will do the final assembly and testing before launch.