NASA postpones launch of Glory mission

The launch of NASA's Glory spacecraft from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California has been postponed at least 24 hours. During the final 15 minutes before Wednesday's scheduled launch of 5:09 a.m. EST, the vehicle interface control console, a ground interface with Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, gave an unexpected reading. The cause and potential effect of the reading was not fully understood. With a 48-second available launch window, there was insufficient time to analyze the issue causing the launch to be postponed. Members of the Taurus team are troubleshooting the issue.

The next launch attempt is no earlier than Thursday, Feb. 24, at 5:09 a.m. EST. NASA Television's coverage of the launch will begin at 3:30 a.m. EST.

Data to be collected by Glory will help scientists improve our ability to predict Earth's future environment and to distinguish human-induced climate change from natural climate variability.

The Glory mission is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Launch management is provided by NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy. Orbital Sciences Corp., which provided the Taurus XL rocket, is responsible for Glory's spacecraft design, manufacture, payload integration and testing, as well as spacecraft operations.

Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center