A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying two NASA satellites bound for the moon is set to move to its launch pad this morning.
The 19-story rocket's 1,800-foot rollout from the Vertical Integration Facility to the pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
You can track the move's progress with the images above, which provide live views of Launch Complex 41.
The Atlas V is preparing for a planned 5:12 p.m. Thursday launch. Two more opportunities follow at 5:22 p.m. and 5:32 p.m.
An Air Force forecast issued today offers a 60-percent chance of weather suitable for a Thursday launch, noting concerns about anvil clouds and lightning as afternoon thunderstorms develop. The odds improve to 70 percent on Friday.
You can read the official forecast here.
The rocket is carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which will map the lunar surface in the highest detail yet.
A secondary payload will tow the rocket's Centaur upper stage for four months, before steering it into a collision with a permanently shadowed crater on the moon's south pole.
The spacecraft - called the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite - will fly through the resulting dust plume in an effort to detect water ice. It will crash four minutes after the Centaur.
1 comment:
Go Atlas, Go Centaur!!!
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