Cape Canaveral Air Force Station workers begin attaching the second stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket to the first stage below.

On Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, workers begin attaching the second stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket to the first stage below. The rocket is the launch vehicle for the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft that will provide the first detailed look into the heart of a comet -- the nucleus. Flying as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) to at least two comets, the spacecraft will take the sharpest pictures yet of a nucleus while analyzing the gas and dust that surround these rocky, icy building blocks of the solar system. Launch of CONTOUR is scheduled for July 1, 2002