WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

At the Astrotech Payload Processing Facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers help guide the CloudSat spacecraft with an attachment ring as it is lowered toward the workstand on the floor. CloudSat will undergo electrical and spacecraft transmitter testing. In combination with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO), the spacecraft will provide never-before-seen 3-D perspectives of how clouds and aerosols form, evolve, and affect weather and climate. CALIPSO and CloudSat will fly in formation with three other satellites to enhance understanding of climate systems. The launch date for CloudSat/CALIPSO is no earlier than Aug. 22.