Gary Lagerloef, right, Aquarius Principal Investigator, Earth & Space Research, Seattle, speaks at a press conference on NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission to study the salinity of Earth's oceans from space on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Gary Lagerloef, Aquarius Principal Investigator, Earth & Space Research, Seattle, speaks at a press conference on NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission to study the salinity of Earth's oceans from space on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Gary Lagerloef, left, Aquarius Principal Investigator, Earth & Space Research, Seattle, speaks at a press conference on NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission to study the salinity of Earth's oceans from space on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA Aquarius Principal Investigator Gary Lagerloef photographed in front of the Aquarius/SAC-D satellite observatory as it is being readied for transportation from Brazil to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for a June 2011 launch.

A reporter asks a question to the panel of scientists assembled at the Aquarius/SAC-D press conference on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Seated from left are Eric Lindstrom, Aquarius Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters; Eric Ianson, Aquarius Program Executive, NASA Headquarters; Gary Lagerloef, Aquarius Principal Investigator, Earth & Space Research, Seattle; Amit Sen, Aquarius Project Manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Daniel Caruso, SAC-D Project Manager, CONAE, Argentina. The mission will study the salinity of the Earth's oceans from space. Aquarius/SAC-D is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Amit Sen, center, Aquarius Project Manager, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, speaks at a press conference on NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission to study the salinity of Earth's oceans from space on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)

Eric Lindstrom, left, Aquarius Program Scientist, NASA Headquarters, talks about NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D mission to study the salinity of Earth's oceans from space on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The mission is a collaboration between NASA and Argentina's space agency Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE), with participation from Brazil, Canada, France and Italy. The Aquarius/SAC-D observatory will launch June 9, 2011 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Photo Credit: (NASA/Carla Cioffi)