On Launch Pad 17 A Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is lowered into position for mating with the first stage.

On Launch Pad 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the second stage of the Boeing Delta II rocket is lowered into position for mating with the first stage. 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