KSC-2012-4624

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA Launch Services Program officials oversee the countdown of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes, or RBSP, and its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from consoles in the Atlas V Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. From left are Omar Baez, assistant launch manager for RBSP, Tim Dunn, launch manager for RBSP, and Albert Sierra, chief of the Flight Projects Office. Weather conditions associated with lightning, as well as cumulus and anvil clouds, kept the probes on Space Launch Complex 41 for the duration of the 20-minute launch window which opened at 4:07 a.m. EDT. RBSP will explore changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- known as "space weather" -- that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will provide data on the fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe. The launch is rescheduled for 4:05 a.m. EDT on Aug. 30, pending approval from the range. For more information on RBSP, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rbsp. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett