Delta II SIRTF Booster Lift & Mate

One of nine solid rocket boosters is lifted on Launch Complex 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for mating with the Delta II rocket in the background. The second stage will later be hoisted atop the first stage. The Delta rocket is the launch vehicle for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. SIRTF will obtain images and spectra by detecting the infrared energy, or heat, radiated by objects in space. Most of this infrared radiation is blocked by the Earth's atmosphere and cannot be observed from the ground. Consisting of an 0.85-meter telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments, SIRTF is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. SIRTF is scheduled for launch April 15 at 4:34:07 a.m. EDT.