Stock Photo - 10/13/1998 ___ In the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility_2 SAEF_2, a technician tests the science instruments and the basic spacecraft subsystems on the Mars Polar Lander. The solar_powered spacecraft is targeted for launch from Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard a Delta II rocket on Jan. 3, 1999. It is designed to touch down on the Martian surface near the northern_most boundary of the south pole in order to study the water cycle there. The lander also will help scientists learn more about climate change and current resources on Mars, studying such things as frost, dust, water vapor and condensates in the Martian atmosphere