Delta II SIRTF MST Rollback
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.
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Details
NASA ID
KSC-03pd2416
Date Created
August 24, 2003
Center
KSC
Media Type
image
Location
CX-17B, Cape Canaveral Air Force
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