KSC-08pd0896

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- In the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the last set of three solid rocket boosters are being mated to the Delta II rocket for the launch of NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST. Because the Delta rocket is configured as a Delta II 7920 Heavy, the boosters are larger than those used on the standard configuration. The GLAST is a powerful space observatory that will explore the Universe's ultimate frontier, where nature harnesses forces and energies far beyond anything possible on Earth; probe some of science's deepest questions, such as what our Universe is made of, and search for new laws of physics; explain how black holes accelerate jets of material to nearly light speed; and help crack the mystery of stupendously powerful explosions known as gamma-ray bursts. Launch is currently planned in a window between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. May 16. Photo credit: NASA/Troy Cryder