Live at the Cape: Range Safety Checks Under Way

The countdown to the launch tonight of a Delta II rocket is continuing without trouble at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as engineers wrap up fuel-loading operations at Launch Complex 17-B.

The 12-story rocket and its payload -- NASA's Kepler spacecraft -- are slated to blast off at 10:49 p.m. NASA will have two, three-minute opportunities to put the spacecraft on course for its operational orbit: 10:49 p.m. through 10:52 p.m. and 11:13 p.m. to 11:16 p.m.

The weather forecast is perfect. Air Force meteorologist Joel Tumbiolo said there is zero percent chance of a weather scrub this evening.

Engineers just finished fueling the first stage of the vehicle. Tanks aboard it now are loading with RP-1 and liquid oxygen propellants, which will power the rocket's Rocketdyne RS-27 main engine during the early portion of flight.

The NASA-United Launch Alliance launch team now is checking out command receivers that would be used to route radio destruct signals to the rocket if it careened out of control and threatened cities or towns surrounding the launch site.

The checks so far are continuing without problem.

Next up will be a slewing test that will gimbal the engines on the rocket to make certain they will steer properly during flight.

So far, so good.