Workers remove the payload transportation canister from the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft after it was lifted into the mobile service tower at NASA's Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built instru
Workers remove the payload transportation canister from the Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft after it was lifted into the mobile service tower at NASA’s Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for launch. Aquarius, the NASA-built instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to fundamental climate processes on its three-year mission. Image credit: NASA/VAFB May 20, 2011