A technician disconnects the lift fixture on NASA's Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE spacecraft after its transfer to the test stand.

At Vandenberg Air Force Base's Astrotech processing facility in California, a technician disconnects the four-point lift fixture on NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, spacecraft after its transfer from the transport dolly to the test stand. The satellite will survey the entire sky at infrared wavelengths, creating a cosmic clearinghouse of hundreds of millions of objects, which will be catalogued, providing a vast storehouse of knowledge about the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe. Launch is scheduled no earlier than Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Doug Kolkow