KSC-2012-1601

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array NuSTAR spacecraft is wrapped in its protective cover and half of its payload fairing is behind it in processing facility 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Technicians are performing fairing closeout work in preparation for fairing installation around the spacecraft, which is scheduled to begin March 2. The cover protecting NuSTAR's delicate instruments will be removed prior to the fairing installation. The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the heat and aerodynamic pressure generated during ascent to orbit aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. After processing of the rocket and spacecraft are complete, they will be flown on Orbital's L-1011 carrier aircraft from Vandenberg to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site on the Pacific Ocean’s Kwajalein Atoll for launch. The high-energy X-ray telescope will conduct a census of black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/nustar. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB