Image above: The tower surrounding the Delta II rocket supporting the OSTM spacecraft is rolled away . Photo credit: Carleton Bailie/United Launch Alliance

Launch Date: June 20
Launch window: 3:46 a.m. EDT – 3:55 a.m. EDT
(12:46 a.m. PDT – 12:55 a.m. PDT)

06.20.08 — All is looking good for this morning’s launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying the OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft. Weather is “green” on all constraints, meaning the forecast is favorable for launch. There is virtually no chance of weather preventing an on-time liftoff. NASA Launch Manager Omar Baez has given the “go” to load super-cold liquid oxygen into the rocket’s first stage.

Yesterday, the first stage was loaded with RP-1 fuel. Rollback of the launch tower followed, revealing the Delta II poised for liftoff at 3:46 a.m. EDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The OSTM/Jason-2 spacecraft will be delivered into a low Earth orbit, where it will begin its three-year mission to map the surface of 95 percent of our planet’s ice-free oceans.