NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Coming together

In the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla., technicians monitor the closing of the two halves of the payload fairing around the GOES-O satellite. The fairing is a molded structure that fits flush with the outside surface of the rocket and forms an aerodynamically smooth nose cone, protecting the spacecraft during launch and ascent.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
April 7, 2009