WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

In Hangar A&E, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the upper canister is lowered toward the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) below. After encapsulation is complete, the spacecraft will be transported to Launch Complex 17-B for mating with its launch vehicle, the Delta II rocket. SIRTF consists of three cryogenically cooled science instruments and an 0.85-meter telescope, and is one of NASA's largest infrared telescopes to be launched. 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.