(06/24/2002) -- A Titan II rocket hurtles above the launch tower at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) spacecraft (NOAA-M) aboard. The rocket lifted off at 2:23 p.m. EDT. NOAA-M is another in a series of polar-orbiting Earth environmental observation satellites that provide global data to NOAA's short- and long-range weather forecasting systems. [Photo by William Hartenstein]