KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Boeing Delta II Heavy second-stage engine, the Aerojet AJ10-118K, is lifted up the mobile service tower at Pad 17-B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Delta II is the launch vehicle for the MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging) spacecraft, scheduled to lift off Aug. 2. Bound for Mercury, the spacecraft is expected to reach orbit around the planet in March 2011. MESSENGER was built for NASA by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
Location Kennedy Space Center, FL
Date July 6, 2004