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GEORGE DILLER: Joining us now at the console is the director of the Kennedy Space Center, Jim Kennedy.

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Jim, welcome. It's good to have you back here to lead off our launch broadcast once more.

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While the, the launch day is obviously the focus of what the Kennedy Space Center is doing for the

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STEREO launch today, there's a lot more that goes on long before this countdown starts.

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What has the role of, of KSC, Kennedy Space Center, been for STEREO prior to launch day?

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JIM KENNEDY: As you indicated, George, there's an awful lot that has gone on for many years to get

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us here to this beautiful evening, just two hours ahead of the launch of the STEREO satellite.

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As your viewers may or may not know, KSC manages through the Launch Services Program office,

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under the leadership of Steve Francois and hundreds of capable men and women.

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This campaign was kicked off almost six years ago. The campaign has many stakeholders.

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The principle ones would be our launch services people here who coordinate with our launch vehicle provider.

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In this case, it's the Delta II provided by The Boeing Company.

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And this vehicle, by the way, will be the 68th successful Delta II mission in a row --

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a tremendously reliable vehicle and a very capable launch service provider.

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What our launch services people do is interact for many years with the satellite providers and marry,

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literally marry the vehicle, the launch vehicle, to the satellite.

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This particular STEREO satellite is provided by the Goddard Space Flight Center, who work in close

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conjunction with their prime contractor, the Applied Physics Lab, or APL. We work with people like the Range

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for protection of the Range here at, at the Cape. We work with the Range for weather, just any number of critical

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players to get us to a night like tonight where we're finally going to celebrate the successful launch of the STEREO spacecraft.

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DILLER: How does the unmanned program tie in with the broader overall NASA vision?

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KENNEDY: I appreciate that question. You know, four years ago, I was new to the Kennedy Space Center and

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didn't really have an appreciation for the expendable launch vehicle, the robotic exploration.

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My life had been primarily on the human side. And 2-1/2 years ago, when the president declared the Vision for

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Space Exploration, I think he made it ever so clear that the future exploration of this nation is

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going to be a balance, a balance of human and robotic exploration.

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Human, as in the shuttle and the International Space Station; robotic, like what we're seeing tonight.

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So the vision declares that this is a very critical part of the exploration mission of this nation,

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to send robotic missions across this universe. We have satellites right now en route to the planet Mercury,

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the satellite known as MESSENGER. We have satellites en route to the farthest planet, Pluto,

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if it is indeed still a planet, to understand the vast domain of, of our universe.

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And it all starts right here with the launch services people at the Kennedy Space Center.

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DILLER: And next year, I guess we have another Mars lander, and the year after that, another rover.

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KENNEDY: We do. And the two rovers that were supposed to last three months on the surface of

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Mars that landed there in -- January will be three years ago -- are still going strong.

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So space exploration with robotic missions through the expendable

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launch vehicle services is alive and well in this NASA of ours.

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DILLER: Well, Jim, thank you very much for coming over and talking with us briefly, and we'll,

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we'll be watching the countdown activities along with you tonight, because I know at 8:38,

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the skies are going to light up with a, a very spectacular launch this evening...

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Hearing in the weather forecast that Joel Tumbiolo just gave, so Jim, thanks very much.

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KENNEDY: Thank you, George. Looking forward to a great night.

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