Installation of the Delta II payload fairing around NASA's Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE is under way in the White Room.

Installation of the Delta II payload fairing around NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is under way in the White Room at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The fairing protects the spacecraft from aerodynamic forces during launch. 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/VAFB