
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Boeing Delta II second stage nears a vertical position before being lifted up the launch tower on Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will complete the erection of the launch vehicle for NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched.
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NASA ID
KSC-03pd0745
Date Created
March 14, 2003
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
Kennedy Space Center, FL
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