The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes spacecraft at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, spacecraft aboard rolls to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. NASA’s RBSP mission will help researchers understand the sun’s influence on Earth and near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time. RBSP will begin its mission of exploration of Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts and the extremes of space weather after its launch aboard an Atlas V rocket. Launch is targeted for Aug. 24. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett