Video: Preparing Delta 2 and SMAP for flight

Making a scientific measurement of planet Earth on a global scale never before attempted by NASA is the objective of an environment satellite to be mounted atop its booster rocket Tuesday in California.

This narrated footage shows the preparations that shuttle Atlantis and the mission payloads underwent at Kennedy Space Center for launch on STS-135 to the International Space Station.

A Delta 2 rocket has lifted off from California’s Central Coast on Saturday with a NASA environmental satellite designed to improve flood and drought forecasts, map moisture in Earth’s soils, and track the planet’s water cycle.