Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility workers remove the wrapping from around the Orbiting Carbon Observatory.

Inside the Astrotech payload processing facility, building 1032, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the wrapping from around the Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO. After the protective coverings over the spacecraft are removed, blanket preparations and edge taping will be done, followed by mechanical preparations and work on the electronic ground support equipment. The OCO is a new Earth-orbiting mission sponsored by NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder Program. The observatory is targeted to launch Jan. 15 from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg. Photo credit: NASA/Robert Hargreaves Jr., VAFB