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NASA News 
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899
AC 321-867-2468
_____________________________________________________________________
For Release: April 9, 2003

Don Savage                                                        
NASA Headquarters

(202) 358-1753                                 

George H. Diller                           
Kennedy Space Center    
(321) 867-2468             

Jane Platt                            
Jet Propulsion Laboratory           
(818) 354-0880                            

KSC Release No. 29-03

SPACE INFRARED TELESCOPE FACILITY (SIRTF) TO BE LAUNCHED ABOARD DELTA
II APRIL 18

Part 2 of 2

Accreditation

Those who need access badges to cover the prelaunch press conference
and the launch of SIRTF should send a letter of request on news
organization letterhead to the NASA-KSC News Center by the close of
business on Tuesday, April 15.  Include the names and Social Security
numbers, birth dates, nationality and country of citizenship of those
who require accreditation. Letters should be faxed to 321/867-2692 or
may be addressed to: 

SIRTF Launch Accreditation
NASA XA-E1
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
                                          

Remote Camera Placement at Complex 17
  
On Thursday, April 17, at 5:30 p.m., photographers wishing to
establish remote cameras at Pad 17-B should meet at the Gate 1 Pass &
Identification Building located on SR 401 just outside Gate 1 on Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station for transportation to the launch complex.    
                                 

Tower Rollback Photo Opportunity

On Thursday, April 17, there will be an opportunity to observe
rollback of the mobile service tower from around the SIRTF/Delta II
launch vehicle at Pad 17-B.  Media should meet at 6:30 p.m. at the
Gate 1 Pass & Identification Building on SR 401 just outside Gate 1
on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 


Launch Day Press Coverage

To obtain badges for launch on Friday, April 18, media covering the
SIRTF launch should assemble at the Gate 1 Pass and Identification
Building on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station located on State Road
401 at 3 a.m. Press credentials and identification from a bona fide
news organization will be required.  A driver's license alone will
not be sufficient. 

Due to the location of the impact limit lines for this launch, a
special press site has been established located on south Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station on the east side of the Trident turn
basin.  Because this site is located on a bluff that is relatively
remote and space available for parking is very limited, media will be
taken by bus to this location. Remote trucks used by television
stations for live launch coverage will be the only media vehicles
permitted at the press site.  The bus will depart from Gate 1 at 3:15
a.m.  Remote trucks will also be escorted to the special press site
location at this time. 

Video and audio plug-in capability for NASA Television will be
available.   There will not be telephones available, so media should
plan on bringing their own cellular phones.


News Center Hours for Launch

On L-2 and L-1 days, the NASA News Center at KSC will be open from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  On launch day, April 18, the News Center will
open at L+1 hour.


NASA Television Coverage  

NASA Television will carry live the SIRTF/Delta II pre-launch Press
Conference and Mission Science Briefing on Wednesday, April 16,
starting at 1 p.m. EDT. On launch day, Friday, April 18, launch
commentary will begin at 3 a.m. EDT and continue until a successful
mission can be confirmed which will be at approximately 5:30 a.m.
EDT.

NASA Television is available on the GE-2 satellite, Transponder
9C, located at 85 degrees West.  NASA Television coverage of the
SIRTF launch will also be available on the web at www.ksc.nasa.gov.

Audio only of the prelaunch press conference and the launch coverage
will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be accessed by
dialing 321/867-1220...1240...1260...7135.


Status Reports

Recorded status reports on the launch of SIRTF and updates to the
Note To Editors will be provided on the KSC news media codaphone
starting on Tuesday, April 15.  The telephone number is 321/867-2525.

The management of the SIRTF launch is the responsibility of NASA's
John F. Kennedy Space Center. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of
Technology, manages the SIRTF project for the Office of Space Science
at NASA Headquarters.  The fully integrated SIRTF spacecraft was
designed and built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in
Sunnyvale, Calif.  SIRTF's cryogenic telescope was designed and built
by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo.  The
observatory's three science instruments were provided by astronomers
at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Cornell University in Ithaca,
New York and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in
Cambridge, Mass.  After launch, SIRTF will be operated by teams from
JPL, Caltech and Lockheed Martin.
                                                 
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