At Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the second half of the clamshell-shaped Delta payload fairing swings into place around NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft under the scrutiny of a spacecraft technician.
At Space Launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the second half of the clamshell-shaped Delta payload fairing swings into place around NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft under the scrutiny of a spacecraft technician.
The fairing protected the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent and was jettisoned once the spacecraft was outside the Earth’s atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Aug. 24, 2011