Live At The Cape: Range Goes Green For 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.

America's East Coast rocket range now is green on all weather launch commit criteria, but the forecast for the planned launch tonight of a Delta IV rocket and a new national weather satellite remains "no-go."

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

A one-hour launch window will extend through 7:14 p.m. The forecast for launch remains the same. Meteorologists say there is a 70-percent chance storms from the west will push electrically charged clouds into the area during the launch window.

Range safety rules prohibit launching in that case because the Delta IV rocket could trigger destructive bolts of lightning in flight.

Storms swept through the area during fuel-loading operations and the range was red for four important launch commit criteria: lightning, cumulus clouds, anvil clouds and surface field mills, the later of which are devices that measure the electrical potential in the atmosphere.

The storms passed south of the Cape during the three-o'clock-hour and all weather criteria on the range went green just before 4 p.m.

Stick with us for live countdown updates here in The Flame Trench. We'll also broadcast NASA TV coverage of the countdown and launch attempt beginning at 4:30 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 updates.

You can also sign up for text alerts on the righthand side of the page if you are going to be out and about on the Space Coast this evening.