VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE Calif. .

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --As the sun rises over Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane raises one of three United Launch Alliance Delta II solid rocket motors on the pad at Space Launch Complex-2 West (SLC-2W). Scheduled to launch in June, the Delta II rocket will carry NASA's Aquarius satellite into low Earth orbit.

Aquarius' mission will be to provide monthly maps of global changes in sea surface salinity. By measuring ocean salinity from space, Aquarius will provide new insights into how the massive natural exchange of freshwater between the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice influences ocean circulation, weather and climate. Also going up with the satellite are optical and thermal cameras, a microwave radiometer and the SAC-D spacecraft, which were developed with the help of institutions in Italy, France, Canada and Argentina. Photo credit: VAFB/30th Space Wing