George Diller                                                                                                                  August 17, 2004
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone:  321/867-2468)

Tina Lange
The Boeing Company
(Phone: 321/264-8582)

KSC Release No. P11-04

Rocket Moves Toward Launch One Stage at a Time

A Boeing Delta IV first stage, called a Common Booster Core, heads for the Horizontal Integration Facility at Launch Complex 37 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The rocket will be used for launching the GOES-N weather satellite for NASA and NOAA in December. The stage was one of a pair transported by the barge "Delta Mariner" from Decatur, Ala., to Port Canaveral. An Elevating Platform Transporter moved beneath the stage, lifting it for the 8-mile transport to Complex 37. The GOES-N is the first in a series of three advanced weather satellites including GOES-O and GOES-P. This satellite will provide continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. It will provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" of severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. When these conditions develop, GOES-N will be able to monitor storm development and track their movements.

KSC Photo Number: KSC-04PD-1670

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text-only version of this release

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