Saturday, January 17, 2009

Live At The Cape: Delta IV Launch Tonight

The Mobile Service Tower at Launch Complex 37 is away from a Delta IV rocket. The weather is 90 percent "go." And valve trouble that contributed to launch scrubs earlier this week is fixed. All in all, it looks like a good day to launch a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Standing 24 stories tall, the United Launch Alliance rocket is scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 37 at 7:33 p.m. The launch window tonight will extend until 11:33 p.m.

Air Force meteorologists say there is a 90 percent chance conditions will be acceptable for launch. The prime concern is a chance of high winds or thick clouds over the launch complex.

You can check out the official forecast issued by the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron here: Launch Forecast.

We'll have updates here in The Flame Trench throughout the day, so make sure to refresh this page for the latest news. We'll also webcast live United Launch Alliance television coverage of the terminal countdown and launch starting 25 minutes prior to liftoff. At that time, you'll see a video player embedded in the top item in the blog. Simply click it to launch live coverage.

We'll also send text message alerts on the status of the launch. Sign up here to receive those alerts on your cell phone.

The triple-bodied rocket is distinguished by three common core boosters strapped together to form its first stage. It is the largest unmanned rocket in the nation's stable of space launch vehicles.

Flying onboard will be a classified payload owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, the super-secret operates the nation's fleet of spy satellites. The launch attempt will be the fourth since Tuesday.

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