On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base is moved into place alongside the Delta II stage.

On Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the second solid rocket motor, or SRM, is moved into place alongside the Delta II first stage. The Delta II is the launch vehicle for the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. The OSTM, or Ocean Topography Mission, on the Jason-2 satellite is a follow-on to Jason-1. It will take oceanographic studies of sea surface height into an operational mode for continued climate forecasting research and science and industrial applications. This satellite altimetry data will help determine ocean circulation, climate change and sea-level rise. OSTM is a joint effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales and the European Meteorological Satellite Organisation. OSTM/Jason-2 will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 from Vandenberg on June 15. Photo credit: NASA/Dan Liberotti