George Diller/SDO Launch Commentator: This is Atlas Launch Control at T minus two
hours, 26 minutes, 28 seconds and counting.
We are live from the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Launch Complex-41 where we are awaiting the
liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with the Solar Dynamics Observatory, targeted for 10:23 this morning.
So, we're just over three hours away from the liftoff of the Atlas V.
SDO is a five-year mission that will deliver solar images with 10 times better resolution than high-definition television.
SDO will observe the sun from its deep interior to the outermost layers of the solar atmosphere.
The mission will focus on the cause of severe space weather, including solar activities,
such as sun spots, solar flares and the effects of the solar wind.
Space weather can affect radio and satellite communications, navigation and GPS systems,
and electric power grids. It can also pose a threat to astronauts in space and airplane crews flying near the polar regions.
At this point in the countdown, everything is "go" from the standpoint of our Atlas V rocket.
And we have also verified the readiness of the downrange tracking stations to support, including the station here at the Cape,
the Air Force tracking station at Jupiter Inlet and South Florida, and our Antigua island tracking station in the Bahamas.
Also, we have completed data flows through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.
So TDRSS is up and ready to support.
At T minus two hours, 24 minutes, 22 seconds and counting, this is Atlas Launch Control.