KSC-2014-1276

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Workers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California prepare to lift a solid rocket motor, or SRM, for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, the OCO-2 mission, from a transporter onto a storage chock where it will be kept until needed. The SRMs will be attached to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket slated to launch the OCO-2 spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 2 in July. OCO-2 will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas. Photo credit: NASA_Randy Beaudoin