Live at the Cape: Atlas V Counting Down to Launch

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with two moon-bound satellites is counting down to a 5:12 p.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

You can watch live coverage of the countdown and liftoff right here. After 2 p.m., just click on the NASA TV still image on the right side of the page or the big picture above to launch a NASA TV viewer.

NASA so far is reporting that all systems are performing well and there is still a 60 percent chance of weather conditions good enough for launch.

"At this time we are working no significant issues that would preclude an on-time liftoff," said George Diller, a NASA spokesman providing launch commentary.

The Atlas V is carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a $511 million mission to generate highly detailed maps of the moon and its resources.

A secondary payload is the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, which will guide the rocket's Centaur stage into an October collision with a shadowed lunar crater, looking for water ice.

LCROSS will fly through the debris plume to collect data, then crash four minutes later.

An Air Force weather officer said today's forecast includes concern about the potential for lightning and cumulous clouds within 10 nautical miles of Launch Complex 41, which would violate launch parameters.