Live At The Cape: Delta Aims For 6:14 PM Launch

LIVE IMAGES: The images above are from live video feeds at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch a Delta IV rocket and a new national weather satellite. The image on the left is from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Channel; on the right is the Delta IV rocket on Launch Complex 37. They will automatically refresh to the most up-to-the-minute image every 30 seconds. Be sure to refresh this page, though, for periodic updates.

BLOGGER UPDATE, 3:57 p.m.: A reminder. Look to the righthand side of the page and sign up for text alerts if you are going to be away from computer.

BLOGGER UPDATE, 3:45 p.m.: Engineers detected a potential problem with a limit switch on one of three swing arms that route electrical, hydraulic, environmental control and other ground support umbilical lines to the 206-foot-tall rocket. The swing arms retract at T-Zero to prevent them from hitting the vehicle. The problkem was cleared and will not be a constraint to launch.

A band of thunderstorms is now sweeping south and east of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the weather is clearing over Launch Complex 37, where a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is being readied to launch a new national weather satellite.

A Phase Two Lightning Warning has been lifted, and the range now is green for cumulus clouds. But the range still remains red for anvil clouds and surface field mills, the latter of which are devices that measure the electrical potential in the atmosphere.

The 206-foot-tall rocket and its payload -- a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -- remain scheduled to blast off during a one-hour window that opens at 6:14 p.m.

Fuel-loading operations are proceeding without problems and no technical issues are being worked at this time.

Satellite imagery and local radar, however, indicate that the partial clearing might only be temporary. Bands of storms still are crossing the station from the west coast, and mission managers will be keeping close tabs on them as the countdown approaches a T-Zero at 6:14 p.m.

Stick with us here for live countdown updates throughout the afternoon, and we will broadcast NASA TV coverage of the final countdown and launch attempt beginning at 4 p.m. Simply click the NASA TV box on the righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.