From Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California, this is Delta Launch Control at T-110 minutes 53 seconds and counting. Launch countdown for the launch
of NOAA-N for NASA and NOAA is on schedule for liftoff at 3:22 a.m. this morning. The gantry-like Mobile Service Tower was retracted from around the Boeing
Delta II rocket earlier tonight at 7:00 p.m. and the call to stations for the NASA and Boeing launch team was at 10:00 p.m.
The weather forecast at this time calls for a zero percent chance of not meeting the launch weather criteria.
We'll be getting an update on the weather shortly. The most current forecast indicates a temperature near 53 degrees at launch time
with northwesterly winds five to ten knots and a visibility of one mile and fog. At this time, we are troubleshooting a problem
at the launch pad involving the water deluge system pumps.
One of the pumps has failed. There are four pumps and launch criteria require three of the four to be operating. So it appears possible that we could
continue with the countdown. However, that is under discussion right now with NASA and Boeing engineering.
Assuming we get the go to proceed, our next step would be loading liquid oxygen as soon as we can clear the pad of the red team that is in
currently troubleshooting this problem. And as far as the launch vehicle is concerned, we have not worked any problems in the countdown so far.
The Boeing Delta II launch vehicle being used today for NOAA-N is a Boeing built 7320-10. That means it has a two-stage launch vehicle
with three solid rocket boosters and a fairing that is ten feet in diameter. The NOAA-N satellite as it sits atop the Delta II is 14 feet long,
six feet wide and weighs 3,130 pounds. Launch is occurring from NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 located on north Vandenberg Air Force Base.
At this time, the red team at the pad is restoring the electrical systems to the three remaining pumps. We're bringing those up one at a time.
And at this time, it appears likely that we are going to be able to continue with the countdown, but they're watching each of these pumps individually
as they're brought back on line. The NOAA-N is a polar orbiting weather satellite, environmental satellite for NOAA, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was built by Lockheed Martin under a contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
And the satellite will be turned over to NOAA by NASA 45 days after in-orbit checkout is completed.
It's the first of two identical satellites planned for launch within the next three years, also to be launched aboard
a Boeing Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 2. At this time, we'll stand by for word about the status of the troubleshooting.
Bringing one of these pumps back on line has just tripped another circuit breaker, so we're continuing to watch this.
This is a developing story. One pump is definitely offline. This is Delta Launch Control at T minus 102 minutes, ten seconds and counting.
It appears that we have a power problem going into the pump house, in addition to the problem with one of the four pumps.
There is discussion of sending an electrical crew in to address the external power problem as well and how much time
would be necessary to fix this in order to launch today. There is a fuse outside of the building that has also blown.
So this is part of a larger problem, but at this point not considered, at least yet, as insurmountable
for launch. But the pad electrical systems are talking through this with Boeing and NASA engineering teams.
So we'll standby and pass along additional information on this. This will probably mean some delay in the
start of LOX loading, but at this point, we are still in the countdown for tonight. Still hoping to meet
the 3:22 a.m. launch time. At T-100 minutes, 26 seconds and counting, this is Delta Launch Control.