Propellant Loaded on Falcon 9

At Space Launch Complex 4 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, RP-1, rocket grade kerosene, and liquid oxygen propellant are being loaded into the Falcon 9 rocket that will launch the Jason-3 satellite to help scientists continue studies of the seas from the vantage point of 830 miles above the Earth. Built by Thales Alenia of France, Jason-3 will measure the topography of the ocean surface for a four-agency international partnership consisting of NOAA, NASA, Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, France’s space agency, and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

Photo credit: NASA