Photos: Atlas 5 rocket soars

This photo gallery shows the U.S. Navy’s fourth Mobile User Objective System communications satellite, already encapsulated in the 18-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket last week at the Vertical Integration Facility.

The adjustment of the launch manifest is in line with NASA’s desire to have a direct handover between its two long-duration crews on the International Space Station.

The satellite awaiting launch early Saturday from California aboard the final flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket should allow scientists to more precisely track changes in our planet’s ice sheets, using six green laser beams to chart the height and slope of polar ice and glaciers, providing a key input into climate change research.