NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Spacecraft Jointed to Rocket

Inside an environmental enclosure at Vandenberg Air Force Base's processing facility in California, technicians review their checklists after joining NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft with the Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL rocket. The uniting of the spacecraft and rocket is a major milestone in prelaunch preparations.

Image credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB
Feb. 17, 2012