KSC-04pd2031

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - On Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the first stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket is lifted toward the mobile service tower. To follow in the next week are attachment of the three strap-on solid rocket boosters, lifting of the payload fairing, and lifting of the second stage for mating with the first stage. The rocket is the launch vehicle for the Swift spacecraft and its Gamma-Ray Burst Mission, now scheduled for liftoff no earlier than Nov. 2. Swift is a medium-class Explorer mission managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The observatory was built for NASA by Spectrum Astro, a division of General Dynamics. KSC is responsible for Swift’s integration with the Boeing Delta II rocket and the countdown management on launch day.