The Centaur upper stage for the Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is lifted in the background.

At Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the Centaur upper stage for the Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO, is lifted into the Vertical Integration Facility where it will be installed on the first stage of the Atlas V, in the background.

SDO is the first space weather research network mission in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The spacecraft's long-term measurements will give solar scientists in-depth information about changes in the sun's magnetic field and insight into how they affect Earth. Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V is scheduled for 10:53 a.m. EST on Feb. 3, 2010. For information on SDO, visit http://www.nasa.gov/sdo. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller