From left, George Diller, NASA Public Affairs Officer; Eric Ianson, NASA Aquarius Program Executive; Omar Baez, NASA Launch Director: Vernon Thorp, NASA Mission Program Manager, United Launch Alliance; Amit Sen, Aquarius Project Manager, NASA JPL; and Capt. Shawn Hannah, Launch Weather Officer, 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, give a briefing on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission on Tuesday, June 7, 2011, at the NASA Resident Office at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The joint U.S./Argentinian Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones CientÃ­ficas (SAC)-D mission, set to launch June 9, will map the salinity at the ocean surface, information critical to improving our understanding of two major components of Earth's climate system: the water cycle and ocean circulation. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls) NASA Identifier: nasahqphoto-5810154908