George Diller/NASA Launch Commentator This is Delta Launch Control at T-109
minutes, 48 seconds and counting. Launch is targeted for 10:49:57 p.m. Eastern time, this evening.
There are two, three-minute launch windows available to us this evening. The second launch window opens at 11:17 p.m.
Final launch preparations began at 1 p.m. this afternoon, when work began at the launch pad to
retract the mobile service tower, which is the gantry, from around the Delta II rocket.
The launch team reported on station at the consoles here in the Mission Director's Center about an hour ago at 7:30 p.m.,
to pick up the terminal countdown as the clock emerged from a one hour
planned built-in hold at 7:48 p.m., at the T-150-minute mark.
At that time preparations began for loading the RP-1 fuel, which is a highly refined kerosene, on board the Delta II first stage.
That operation is under way and has been going on for about the last 18 minutes or so.
Currently, we are about almost complete with that operation.
We have 9,845 gallons on board and the target is 10,042 gallons of fuel.
So that operation has been going smoothly and is on time, and is approaching the end of that operation.