Live At The Cape: Delta Launch 70-Percent "No-Go"

BLOGGER UPDATE: Mission managers gave a green light to proceed with plans to launch the Delta IV and a new national weather satellite on Friday, but the weather remains grim. Said Joel Tumbiolo, a meteorologist with the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron: "It looks like the only obstacle to launching the weather satellite is going to be the weather." The official forecast calls for a 70-percent chance that thunderstorms will spawn electrically charged clouds that in turn force a launch scrub. Nonetheless, we'll have countdown updates all day Friday and live coverage beginning at 4 p.m.

A readiness review for the planned launch Friday of a Delta IV rocket and a new national weather satellite is under way this morning but there is a good chance stormy weather could force a scrub.

The 206-foot-tall United Launch Alliance rocket and its payload -- a Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite -- is scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a window that will extend from 6:14 p.m. to 7:14 p.m. Friday.

Meteorologists, however, expect seasonal thunderstorms to bring electrically charged clouds into the area during the window -- conditions that would prohibit a launch. Forecasters say there is a 70-percent chance of the weather will be "no-go."

You can check out all the details here in this Official Launch Forecast from the U.S. 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.

You can also watch a pre-launch news conference live here in The Flame Trench at 1 p.m. Simply click on the NASA TV box at the righthand side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer, and be sure to refresh this page for periodic updates.

The GOES-O spacecraft is the latest in a series that monitor weather systems around the country and provide advance warning of severe weather such as flash floods, tornadoes, hail storms and hurricanes.

Developed by NASA but owned and operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the satellites provide the nation's primary means of tracking tropical systems as they spawn off the west coast of Africa and then cross the Atlantic Ocean.

Many spin up into tropical depressions, tropical storms or hurricanes that can threaten coastal areas along the eastern seaboard as well as along the Gulf of Mexico.

The GOES spacecraft also provide many of the satellite images seen on TV weather reports.

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.

The launch window for attempts on Saturday and Sunday would remain the same: 6:14 p.m. to 7:14 p.m. The forecast for Saturday improves slightly to a 60-percent chance that conditions would force a scrub.

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge and save this NASA image of technicians working on the protective nosecone that shrouds the GOES-O satellite at the atop of the Delta IV rocket on Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Delta IV is a medium-lift version with a four-meter payload fairing and two ATK solid rocket motors. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.