OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2)

It's been a busy week for the teams preparing the OCO-2 spacecraft and United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The nearly 1,000-pound observatory has been sealed inside the protective payload fairing atop the Delta II since Saturday, June 21. Fuel was loaded aboard the rocket's second …

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2 is an Earth satellite mission to study carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and provide scientists with a better idea of the chemical compound's impacts on climate change. The mission is NASA's first dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide from space. OCO-2 will launch on a Delta II 7320 rocket from …