Workers monitor NASA's Glory spacecraft as it is being prepared for transport to Space Launch Complex 576-E.

Inside the airlock at Astrotech's payload processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers monitor NASA's Glory spacecraft, now completely enclosed in its payload fairing, as it is being prepared for transport to Space Launch Complex 576-E. There it will be joined with the Taurus XL rocket's third stage. The hose connected to the fairing is an environmental purge that keeps the spacecraft dry and temperature controlled.

The Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket will carry Glory into low Earth orbit. Once Glory reaches orbit, it will collect data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon. It also will help scientists understand how the sun's irradiance affects Earth's climate. Launch is scheduled for 5:09 a.m. EST Feb. 23. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/glory. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB