Cloud satellites delayed again

Strong winds at the California launch site scrubbed this morning's attempt to launch a pair of climate satellites. The Cloudsat and Calipso spacecraft, atop a Delta 2 rocket, will have to wait at least one more day to launch day. Tuesday's postponement is the fourth in five days. The count was stopped just minutes before a planned liftoff after weather forecasters determined winds at high altitude were too strong for the Delta 2 rocket to fly through. The fear: buffeting by winds could damage the rocket, leading to a launch explosion or other problems that would prevent NASA's spacecraft from reaching orbit. The plan for now is to try again tomorrow, at the same time, though a final decision on that will not come until later today. The launch, while being staged from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, is managed by the launch services team from Kennedy Space Center. Check back later for more details.

10:54 a.m. update: NASA says Wednesday will be the next launch attempt, pending the availability of all the support airplanes and assets needed for flight. Also, the agency says weather is a concern tomorrow morning on the California coast. There's only a 40 percent chance of acceptable conditions. NASA's latest status update says: "The primary concerns are for thick clouds, higher than allowable winds, rain showers and isolated thunderstorms."