VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – The fairing for NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, mission arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing will protect OCO-2 during launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket 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
Photographer NASA_Randy Beaudoin
Album Hot_Pics