VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - The Delta II payload fairing is installed around NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, in the White Room at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fairing protects the spacecraft from aerodynamic forces during launch. 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. 9. For additional information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/wise. Photo credit: NASA/VAFB
Location Vandenberg AFB, CA
Date November 25, 2009