NASA’s launch of the NOAA-N polar-orbiting environmental weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, previously scheduled for this morning, has been postponed an additional 24 hours. Higher-than-allowable winds prevented the rollback of the mobile service tower, the gantry surrounding the Boeing Delta II launch vehicle.
The surface winds at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California were observed to be approximately 30 knots Wednesday, above the wind constraint, and were forecasted to remain unchanged through the evening.
Launch has been rescheduled for Friday, May 13. The launch time remains unchanged at 3:22 a.m. PDT at the opening of a 10-minute launch window.
Wind conditions late this afternoon are presently forecast to be within limits at approximately 20 knots, and the chance of weather criteria violation drops to zero percent at launch time on Friday morning. Forecast models will be reviewed this afternoon for a final check before the tower rollback begins. This is currently planned to take place at about 6:30 p.m. after the RP-1 fuel is loaded aboard the Delta II first stage.
NASA Television coverage begins at 1 a.m. PDT Friday.
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