Delta IV Rocket Aims To Blast Off At 6:17 P.M. At Cape Canaveral

LIVE IMAGES: Refresh this page to see the latest images of the Delta 4 on the pad at Complex 37 and the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather Channel.

The countdown to the launch tonight of a Delta IV rocket and a new national weather satellite is continuing without problems and the weather appears as if it will be good enough to proceed with an early evening launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The United Launch Alliance rocket remains scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 37B at the beginning of an hour-long window that will open at 6:17 p.m. The $500 million weather satellite atop the rocket ultimately will join two other Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites in orbits 22,300 miles above Earth.

The Delta IV is fully fueled for flight and engineers just completed second stage steering tests. Engineers soon will be loading the latest wind data into flight computers aboard the rocket. The winds aloft are strong but still within limits. Launch Weather Officer Joel Tumbiolo just reported that the winds at 37,500 feet in altitude are gusting between 150 and 160 knots. But apparently there is no significant wind shear that could knock the rocket off course.

You can watch live launch coverage right here in The Flame Trench. Click the NASA TV box on the right side of the page to launch our NASA TV viewer and live NASA TV countdown commentary and launch. NASA's George Diller is providing launch commentary from the Mission Director's Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

You can take part, also, in our CoverItLive coverage from the Florida Today blockhouse at the Launch Complex 39 Press Site at Kennedy Space Center by clicking the CoverItLive box above.