KSC-04pd-2280
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Launch Pad 17-A on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the wrapped spacecraft Swift is slowly lifted up the mobile service tower for mating to the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle waiting there. Swift is scheduled to launch Nov. 17. The liftoff aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket is targeted at the opening of a one-hour launch window beginning at 12:09 p.m. EST. A first-of-its-kind multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science, Swift’s three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma ray, X-ray, ultraviolet and optical wavebands. Gamma-ray bursts are distant, yet fleeting explosions that appear to signal the births of black holes.
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Details
NASA ID
04pd2280
Date Created
November 8, 2004
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Photographer
NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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