Delta II SIRTF MST Rollback. NASA public domain image. Kennedy space center.

Similar

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Space Tracking and Surveillance System - Demonstrator, or STSS-Demo, spacecraft lifts off through a cloud of smoke from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. It was launched by NASA for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Launch was at 8:20:22 a.m. EDT. The STSS-Demo is a space-based sensor component of a layered Ballistic Missile Defense System designed for the overall mission of detecting, tracking and discriminating ballistic missiles. Photo credit: NASA/Regina Mitchell-Tom Farrar KSC-2009-5231

CARD 1 OF 2. NASA public domain image. Kennedy space center.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Sunrise at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida finds space shuttle Atlantis on Launch Pad 39A after completing its historic and final journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Atlantis was secured or "hard down," at its seaside launch pad at 3:29 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 1. The milestone move, known as "rollout," paves the way for the launch of the STS-135 mission to the International Space Station, targeted for July 8. STS-135 will be the 33rd flight of Atlantis, the 37th shuttle mission to the space station, and the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program. For more information visit: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts135/index.html. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-2011-4228

SpaceX CRS-10 at Pad 39A. NASA public domain image. Kennedy space center.

As tower rollback begins, the Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the Stardust spacecraft waits on Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, for the second launch attempt at 4:04 p.m. EST. The original launch was scrubbed on Feb. 6 for 24 hours. Stardust is destined for a close encounter with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Using a silicon-based substance called aerogel, Stardust will capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet. The spacecraft also will bring back samples of interstellar dust. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar grains and other remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Scientists expect their analysis to provide important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as Stardust swings by Earth in January 2006 KSC-99pc0155

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Workers at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Pad 17B monitor the progress as the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Delta II launch vehicle is lifted into the gantry. The Delta II will carry NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, spacecraft into lunar orbit. The GRAIL mission is a part of NASA's Discovery Program. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field. The mission also will answer longstanding questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system formed. GRAIL is scheduled to launch September 8, 2011. For more information visit: http://science.nasa.gov/missions/grail/. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann KSC-2011-2795

Delta II SIRTF MST Rollback. NASA public domain image. Kennedy space center.

description

Summary

The mobile service tower is rolled back at Launch Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, to reveal NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) ready for launch aboard a Delta II Heavy launch vehicle. Liftoff is scheduled for Aug. 25 at 1:35:39 a.m. EDT. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Consisting of a 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF will be the largest infrared telescope ever launched into space. It is the fourth and final element in NASA’s family of orbiting “Great Observatories.” Its highly sensitive instruments will give a unique view of the Universe and peer into regions of space that are hidden from optical telescopes.

label_outline

Tags