BLOGGER NOTE: Updated with the start of fuel-loading at 1:15 p.m.
A Delta IV rocket is being fueled for launch despite the threat of stormy weather that could force a launch scrub later this evening.
The 206-foot-tall rocket and its payload -- a new national weather satellite -- remain scheduled to blast off during a one-hour window that will open at 6:14 p.m.Mission managers think cloudy, windy weather that potentially could spawn lightning will clear in time to launch.
"We have determined that it is acceptable to continue with the terminal count and cryo loading," United Launch Alliance Launch Director Bill Cullen told engineers in the Delta Operations Center, which is about 9,200 feet from the pad at Launch Complex 37.
"For the whole team, we will be having a likelihood of weather throughout the day. We need to stay on our timeline. It looks like post-six o'clock, the weather will be clearing up, and we need to be ready and poised to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself."
The Cape area right now is on alert for the chance of lightning in the area. A so-called Phase One lightning warning was issued prior to propellant-loading operations.
If a Phase Two lightning warning had been in effect -- one which lightning stikes actually are encountered in the area -- then fuel-loading operations would not be able to start.
Once started though, a propellant-loading operation can continue in the event that a Phase Two lightning warning is issued. So by starting the propellant-loading operation on time, the opportunity to launch today was preserved.
The weather outlook for launch is not good.
Meteorologists say there is a 70-percent chance stormy weather will bring electrically charged clouds into the area during the launch window. A rocket flying through cumulus or anvil clouds could trigger destructive bolts of lightning, so flight rules prohibit launching in such conditions.
Check out all the details in this Official Launch Forecast from the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron, which provides forecasting services for all launches from the air base and NASA's nearby Kennedy Space Center.
Stick with us for live countdown status updates all afternoon, and you can watch live NASA TV coverage right here in The Flame Trench starting 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.
The Delta IV is slated to carry into space a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) that will monitor weather systems across the western hemisphere and provide advance warning of flash floods, tornadoes, hail storms and hurricanes.
Check out all the details on the $499 million mission in this Official NASA Press Kit.
Get a quick look here in this NASA Fact Sheet.
And for countdown bar charts, information on the flight trajectory and other details, check out this United Launch Alliance Mission Booklet.
ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge and save the United Launch Alliance image of the Delta IV Medium rocket on the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37. You can also click the enlarged image to get an even bigger, more detailed view. The image was taken just after a 330-foot-tall mobile service structure that weighs nine-million pounds was back away from the vehicle, which has a four-meter payload fairing and two ATK solid rocket boosters. Photo credit: Carleton Bailie/United Launch Alliance.
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