In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians secure a transportation canister around NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) spacecraft for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg.

SMAP is managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington by JPL with participation by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. JPL is responsible for project management, system engineering, instrument management, the radar instrument, mission operations and the ground data system. Goddard is responsible for the radiometer instrument. Both centers collaborate on the science data processing and delivery of science data products to the Alaska Satellite Facility and the National Snow and Ice Data Center for public distribution and archiving. NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch management. JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

For more information about SMAP, visit http://smap.jpl.nasa.gov.