In Orbital Sciences Corp. Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is being loaded onto an Assembly Integration Trailer in preparation.

In Orbital Sciences Corp. Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first and second stage of the Taurus XL rocket is being loaded onto an Assembly Integration Trailer in preparation for moving to Pad 576-E on north Vandenberg later this month.

The Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket, targeted to lift off Feb. 23, 2011, from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 576-E, will take NASA's Glory satellite into low Earth. Glory is scheduled to collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin