KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the ground support equipment (GSE) is offloaded from the Antonov aircraft. The GSE will be used for processing the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) spacecraft to get it ready for launch. CALIPSO was offloaded earlier. CALIPSO will fly in combination with the CloudSat satellite to provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will join three other satellites in orbit to enhance understanding of climate systems. The launch date for CALIPSO_CloudSat is no earlier than Aug. 22.
Album CALIPSO_CloudSat