NASA's Infrared Survey Explorer or WISE is prepared for its move from the test stand for mating to the Payload Attach Fitting.

At the Astrotech processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is prepared for its move from the test stand for mating to the Payload Attach Fitting.

The satellite 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. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Doug Kolkow