Delta II rocket

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The Air Force successfully launched a Boeing Delta II rocket carrying the Jason 1 and Timed satellites from Space Launch Complex-2 on Dec. 7. This was the second Delta II launched from Vandenberg this year. Jason 1 is a joint U.S./French oceanography mission. Jason 1 will monitor world ocean circulation, study interactions of the oceans and atmosphere, improve climate predictions and observe events such as El Nino. The NASA timed spacecraft will conduct the first global study of the Earth's mesosphere, lower thermosphere and ionosphere. The project is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., for NASA and the French space agency. (U.S. Air Force photo)