NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D Launch Rescheduled

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
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Alan Buis 818-354-0474
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov

Steve Cole 202-358-0918
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

George Diller 805-605-3051
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

Feature: 2011-175 June 8, 2011

NASA's Aquarius/SAC-D Launch Rescheduled

The full version of this story with accompanying images is at:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-175&cid=release_2011-175

PASADENA, Calif. -- The launch of the international Aquarius/SAC-D mission is
postponed 24 hours until Friday, June 10, from NASA's Space Launch Complex-2 at
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The 5-minute launch window opens at 7:20 a.m. PDT
(10:20 a.m. EDT).

The new launch date will allow the launch team to complete additional review of an
inconsistency found in the Delta II launch vehicle flight profile for wind conditions on
the day of launch. These data are used to steer the Delta II through upper level winds.
The weather forecast for June 10 shows a 100 percent chance of favorable weather
conditions for the launch.

The Aquarius/SAC-D (Satelite de Aplicaciones Cientificas) observatory is a collaboration
between NASA and Argentina's space agency, Comision Nacional de Actividades
Espaciales (CONAE).

Media are invited to see and photograph the Delta II with Aquarius/SAC-D at the launch
pad on Thursday, June 9. Media will depart for the pad at 9:30 p.m. PDT from the
Vandenberg Main Gate on California State Road 1.

Media covering the launch on Friday, June 10, will be escorted to the press viewing site
from the Vandenberg Main Gate. Media should meet at 6 a.m. PDT at the pass and
identification building.

Aquarius was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA's Launch Services Program at the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida manages the launch. JPL will manage Aquarius through
its commissioning phase and archive mission data. Goddard will manage Aquarius
mission operations and process science data. CONAE is providing the SAC-D spacecraft,
optical camera, thermal camera with Canada, microwave radiometer, sensors from various
Argentine institutions and the mission operations center. France and Italy also are
contributing instruments.

On launch day, June 10, NASA TV commentary coverage of the countdown will begin at
5:30 a.m. PDT (8:30 a.m. EDT). Launch coverage will be streamed live at:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .

For more information about Aquarius/SAC-D, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/aquarius . JPL
is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

-end-

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