A convoy of trucks delivers solid rocket motors for a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket to Vandenberg Air Force Base.

A convoy of trucks delivers solid rocket motors for a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Delta II is slated to launch NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2 spacecraft in July 2014.

OCO-2 will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze this data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important atmospheric gas.
Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin