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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - Inside Hangar AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), workers secure the Swift spacecraft, wrapped in a protective cover, on a work stand. Swift is a first-of-its-kind, multi-wavelength observatory dedicated to the study of gamma-ray burst (GRB) science. Its three instruments will work together to observe GRBs and afterglows in the gamma-ray, X-ray and optical wavebands. Swift is part of NASA’s medium explorer (MIDEX) program being developed by an international collaboration. It will be launched no earlier than Oct. 7 into a low-Earth orbit on a Boeing Delta 7320 rocket from pad 17-A at CCAFS. During its nominal 2-year mission, Swift is expected to observe more than 200 bursts, which will represent the most comprehensive study of GRB afterglow to date.