Weather forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 30th Weather Squadron are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for launch of NASA's SMAP observatory aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is targeted for 9:20 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the opening of …
Launch of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP observatory, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket remains on schedule. Liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California is targeted for 9:20 a.m. EST on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the opening of a 3-minute launch window. The full launch team, spacecraft test team and …
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NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft has been attached to the top of the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket that will deliver it to orbit. Preparations for the Jan. 29 launch are on schedule at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Payload carriers containing small satellites called CubeSats are being attached to the rocket's …
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 is in great condition following liftoff earlier today from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and is ready to begin a checkout process before it starts its work of measuring and mapping carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere. "We have a healthy observatory," said Ralph Basilio, the OCO-2 project manager from NASA's …
A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying NASA's OCO-2 spacecraft rises from the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The photo was taken by NASA photographer Bill Ingalls.
NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 is in orbit this morning following a flawless countdown and ascent aboard the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was right on time at 2:56 a.m. PDT/5:56 a.m. EDT. This brings live coverage to an end. There will …
The observatory's solar arrays have deployed and are power positive according to NASA Launch Manager TIm Dunn. "All very good news," Dunn said. The Delta II "performed like a champ" throughout the countdown and ascent, he added. "There was pure joy in the Mission Director's Center at spacecraft sep, I can tell you that," Dunn …
Onboard cameras captured the separation of the OCO-2 spacecraft from the Delta II second stage:
Data from the spacecraft is flowing through the space-based Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.