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VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Trucks roll onto Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to deliver the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, spacecraft, shipped from spacecraft facilities in Dulles, Va., by Orbital Sciences, builder of the spacecraft. The observatory will be taken to Astrotech payload processing facility, building 1032. After the protective coverings over the spacecraft are removed, blanket preparations and edge taping will be done, followed by mechanical preparations and work on the electronic ground support equipment. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is targeted to launch Jan. 15 from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg. Photo credit: NASA/Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB