SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive)

The countdown has resumed following release of the hold. There's still one more built-in hold coming up at T-4 minutes.

Upper level winds remain "red" because of a wind shear at 34,000 feet. During this 20-minute hold, managers and engineers will receive a weather briefing and continue to monitor SMAP and Delta II systems.

Countdown clocks have paused at the T-15 minute mark. This is a planned hold lasting 20 minutes.

Upper level winds are "red" and the launch team will continue to monitor the status as the countdown progresses toward the planned launch of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft at 9:20 a.m. EST from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The U.S. Air Force Western Range has verified the range safety systems are operating …

The engines on each of the rocket's two stages are beginning a series of steering-check movements, or "slews."

The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket is fully fueled and ready to launch NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft at 9:20 a.m. EST. The final commodity, liquid oxygen, has just been loaded into the Delta II first stage. The operation took 26 minutes, 12 seconds.

The ELaNa X payload comprises three Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployers, or P-PODs, containing a total of four CubeSats. These four small satellites represent three separate missions: ExoCube, a space weather satellite consisting of three CubeSat units The GEO-CAPE ROIC In-Flight Performance Experiment, or GRIFEX, a technology validation mission also consisting of three CubeSat units FIREBIRD-II …

Valves are opening and cryogenic liquid oxygen is about to begin flowing into the Delta II rocket's first stage. After tanking, the occasional puff of gaseous oxygen will be visible outside the rocket's midsection throughout the remainder of the countdown. This is normal; as the liquid oxygen warms, small amounts of it will boil off …