This is Delta Launch Control at T-91 minutes and counting.
Operations at the Vandenberg Air Force Base are going well this morning for the launch of the CALIPSO/CloudSat
satellites aboard a Delta II launch vehicle. Liftoff is scheduled to occur on time at 3:02 a.m.
Pacific time this morning from Space Launch Complex 2 here at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
CALIPSO and CloudSat will provide new perspectives on Earth's clouds and aerosols.
The satellites will help answer questions about how clouds form and evolve, and how they effect the Earth's water supply.
Today, these satellites will be launched into an orbit where they will fly just 15 seconds apart as members of NASA's A-train,
which is a constellation of several Earth-observing satellites. Preparations for launch today have been under way for several days now.
In the final phases of the count we are this morning. Fueling of the Delta's first stage with about 10,000 gallons of highly refined
kerosene took place last evening and is now complete, and loading of liquid oxygen into the first stage will soon begin.
The liquid oxygen loading begins at about 1:17 a.m. Pacific Time and about 15 minutes at the T-75 minute mark,
and it will be completed just before we go into the hold at T-20 minutes.
The second-stage helium and nitrogen pressurization is also been reported complete.
The countdown continues to progress smoothly without any technical concerns for the satellites,
which are sitting 124 feet in the air atop the 12-story Delta II rocket.
The tower at Launch Complex 2 was rolled back for the vehicle late yesterday afternoon and we began the terminal phase of the countdown
at the T-150 minute mark at about 11 p.m. last night.
The weather for today's launch attempt is indicating that we are green on all issues. There is a slight concern for thick clouds,
but that's just a slight concern. The overall percentage is very positive,
indicating an 80-percent chance that we will have a good launch this morning.
Again, today's launch window opens at 3:02 a.m. It is an instantaneous window.
Again, no technical issues or concerns are being worked on the vehicle at this time. Coming up shortly,
I'll have an interview with Kennedy Space Center, Center Director Jim Kennedy.
He'll come over and answer a few questions and give us some insight into what's going on with the Launch Services Program.
At T-88 minutes and counting, this is Delta Launch Control.