LIVE IMAGES: Refresh this page for updates and the latest still images from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Channel (left) and Launch Complex 41 (right).
Countdown to the planned launch tonight of an Atlas V rocket is continuing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and launch engineers have run into another technical problem, but it's not expected to be a showstopper.
The 19-story rocket and its payload -- a new-generation military communications satellite -- remain scheduled to blast off from launch Complex 41 at 9:24 p.m. The launch window tonight will extend through 10:01 p.m.
But engineers are working a problem with a gaseous helium purge system that is used to keep explosive levels of gaseous hydrogen or gaseous oxygen from building up in the rocket's Centaur upper stage.
Meters at the launch pad measured low concentrations of gaseous helium in an upper stage equipment section, and engineers recommended closing three valves at the pad to allow concentrations to increase to proper levels.
Engineers at United Launch Alliance's Denver headquarters are monitoring the situation to determine whether fuel-loading operations can start up as scheduled around 7:30 p.m. tonight. Engineers at the Cape, meanwhile, said a supply line contractor has checked all equipment and it now is working properly. A review of previous launch countdowns also shows that pressure drops at this stage of the operation have been seen before.
Engineers also are troubleshooting a problem with a gaseous nitrogen purge at the pad. A team from contractor Air Liquide on Merritt Island was send to the pad earlier in the countdown to investigate low-pressure readings in a supply tank.
That issue still is being worked.
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