VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - At Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the interstage of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for launch of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is in place on top of the rocket's first stage in the pad's mobile service tower. WISE will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects which will be catalogued and provide a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled for Dec. 7. For additional information, visit http://wise.ssl.berkeley.edu. Photo credit: NASA/Roy Allison, VAFB
Location Vandenberg AFB, CA
Date October 19, 2009