NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321 867-2468
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George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. July 16, 2004
(Phone: 321/867-2468)
PHOTO RELEASE: P08-04
SETTING THE “STAGE” FOR MESSENGER’S DEBUT
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – The first stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket is lifted off its transporter on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, into the mobile service tower. The Delta II is the launch vehicle for NASA’s MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft, set for lift off Aug. 2. Bound for Mercury, the spacecraft is expected to reach orbit around the planet in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1392
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – On Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers check a Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) waiting to be lifted up the mobile service tower. The SRB and eight others will be mated to the Boeing Delta II Heavy rocket for the Aug. 2 launch of NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft to the planet Mercury.
KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1412
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Boeing Delta II Heavy rocket’s second-stage, with the Aerojet AJ10-118K engine, is lifted up the mobile service tower on Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Shown at right is the first stage of the Delta II and the nine surrounding Solid Rocket Boosters that will launch NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft to the planet Mercury.
KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1448
A complete gallery of NASA Kennedy Space Center photos is available at http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/index.cfm
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