KSC-03pd0508

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Pegasus launch vehicle is on a transporter, ready to be moved from the Skid Strip, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at KSC. There it will be mated to the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). The Pegasus will carry into orbit the GALEX, an orbiting space telescope that will observe galaxies in ultraviolet light across 10 billion years of cosmic history. Led by the California Institute of Technology, GALEX will conduct several first-of-a-kind sky surveys, including an extra-galactic (beyond our galaxy) ultraviolet all-sky survey. During its 29-month mission GALEX will produce the first comprehensive map of a Universe of galaxies under construction, bringing more understanding of how galaxies like the Milky Way were formed. GALEX is due to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station March 25.

Date: 2003-02-19
Collection: KSC
Archive: NASA Image and Video Library
Type: photograph