CONTOUR spacecraft is lowered toward the upper stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket a worker keeps close watch.

As the Comet Nucleus Tour (CONTOUR) spacecraft is lowered toward the upper stage of a Boeing Delta II rocket, a worker keeps close watch. The two components are being mated for launch. CONTOUR 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 aboard the Delta II is scheduled for July 1, 2002, from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station