NASA scrubs launch of global warming satellite
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — The planned launch of a rocket carrying a NASA satellite designed to track global warming has been postponed.
NASA writes in a tweet that the countdown was stopped at 46 seconds because of a failure in the launch pad water flow. A message left with NASA was not returned.
The Delta 2 rocket was supposed to launch early Tuesday over Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The rocket is the second try for NASA. In 2009, the space agency launched a replica satellite aboard a smaller and cheaper Taurus XL rocket. Minutes after liftoff, the rocket crashed into the ocean off Antarctica.
Investigators later determined a piece of rocket hardware protecting the satellite did not separate as planned, preventing the satellite from reaching orbit.