A convoy accompanies NASA's Infrared Survey Explorer from the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base to Space Launch Complex 2.

A convoy accompanies NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, enclosed in a transportation canister, from the Astrotech payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to Space Launch Complex 2.

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/Doug Kulkow, VAFB