Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
George Diller/NASA Launch Commentator: From Vandenberg Air Force Base in California,
this is Atlas Launch Control at T-minus two hours, five minutes, 28 seconds and counting.
We're now just slightly more than two hours and 45 minutes away
from the actual launch of NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission.
Liftoff will be atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
from Space Launch Complex-3 located on south Vandenberg.
(The) launch window today extends from 10:02 to 10:50 a.m. Pacific time, a duration of 48 minutes.
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission, or LDCM, is the latest in the
Landsat series which embraces new, advanced Earth-monitoring technology.
It will continue the Landsat Program's legacy of serving a crucial role in monitoring,
understanding and managing earth's resources from space, including our forest, water and agriculture.
The satellite has a design life of not less than five years and enough
fuel to sustain it on orbit for 10 years.
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission is a partnership between
NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior's U.S. Geological Survey.
After three months of checkout by NASA, the observatory will be turned
over to USGS for operation and will assume the new designation of Landsat 8.
We've just completed a weather briefing to the launch team and our forecast continues to be very favorable.
Right now there is still a zero percent chance of not meeting our launch weather criteria today.
The temperature launch time is forecast to be near 43 degrees with a
relative humidity at 89 percent and wind at approximately at 5 knots.
No significant clouds or weather. Fog is remaining offshore and there is nothing on the radar.
So at this time we're into our preparations for beginning our fueling
activity for loading the propellants onboard the Atlas and Centaur stages.
We're now at T-minus two hours, three minutes, 12 seconds and counting, this is Atlas Launch Control.