Launch pad glitch delays liftoff of NASA carbon-hunting satellite
By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL Fla. (Reuters) - The launch of an unmanned Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California was called off less than a minute before liftoff on Tuesday when the launch pad’s water system failed, a live NASA Television broadcast showed. The rocket, built and flown by United Launch Alliance, apartnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co , was due to lift off at 2:56 a.m. PDT (5:56 a.m. EDT,0956 GMT) from a launch pad that had not been used in nearlythree years. The pad’s water deluge system helps reduce the high temperatures and potentially damaging acoustic vibrations fromlaunch. The rocket carries NASA’s $465 million Orbiting CarbonObservatory. Built by Orbital Sciences Corp , it isdesigned to measure where carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas tiedto climate change, is moving into and out of the atmosphere. United Launch Alliance had just 30 seconds to get the rocketoff the launch pad to properly position the satellite at thefront of a train of polar-orbiting spacecraft that passes overEarth’s equator at the same time every afternoon. “As we only have a 30-second launch window, launch will notbe occurring this morning,” said NASA launch commentator GeorgeDiller. Once the rocket was drained of propellants, technicians were able to find the source of the problem - a stuck valve, NASA said in a status report. A second launch attempt is planned at 2:56 a.m. PDT (5:56 a.m. EDT, 0956 GMT) on Wednesday. (Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jim Loney)
