VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is transported to the Spaceport Systems International processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Earlier, a Air Force C-17 transport plane delivered the spacecraft from Campos, Brazil. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch to low Earth orbit. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. Salinity is a key measurem
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Aquarius/SAC-D spacecraft is transported to the Spaceport Systems International processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Earlier, a Air Force C-17 transport plane delivered the spacecraft from Campos, Brazil. Following final tests, the spacecraft will be integrated to a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket in preparation for the targeted June launch to low Earth orbit. Aquarius, the NASA-built primary instrument on the SAC-D spacecraft, will map global changes in salinity at the ocean's surface. Salinity is a key measurement for understanding how changes in rainfall, evaporation and the melting of freezing of ice influence ocean circulation and are linked to variations in Earth's climate. The three-year mission will provide new insights into how variations in ocean surface salinity relate to these fundamental climate processes.
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Keywords: change, climate, delta, earth, elv, ii, mission, research, science
