Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) 25 Apr 2003 Launch Status Report
MISSION: Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF)
- LAUNCH VEHICLE: Delta II Heavy
- LAUNCH PAD: 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- LAUNCH DATE: NET late August,
- LAUNCH TIME: TBD
At Pad 17-B, the Delta fairing will be taken from around the SIRTF spacecraft on Monday in preparation for removing the telescope from the rocket and taking it to NASA Spacecraft Hangar AE. Work will then begin to remove the Delta second stage and two of the nine solid rocket boosters from the vehicle. The remaining solid rocket boosters and the Delta first stage will be used for MER-B.
The launch of SIRTF is expected to occur in the second half of August.
Project management of SIRTF for NASA is by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The observatory is built by Lockheed Martin and Ball Aerospace.
