This framegrab image provided by NASA-TV shows the Atlas V first stage and Centaur upper stage sitting on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida just prior to launch being scrubbed for the day early Saturday Aug. 25, 2012. The planned launch is scheduled for 4:07 a.m. EDT Sunday of NASA?s Radiation Belt Storm Probes. The Atlas V burns refined kerosene fuel, known as RP-1, mixed with liquid oxygen. The Centaur uses liquid hydrogen for fuel, mixed with liquid oxygen. The Centaur will ignite after the Atlas V first stage burns its propellants and falls away. (AP Photo/NASA)
This framegrab image provided by NASA-TV shows the Atlas V first stage and Centaur upper stage sitting on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida just prior to launch being scrubbed for the day early Saturday Aug. 25, 2012. The planned launch is scheduled for 4:07 a.m. EDT Sunday of NASA?s Radiation Belt Storm Probes. The Atlas V burns refined kerosene fuel, known as RP-1, mixed with liquid oxygen. The Centaur uses liquid hydrogen for fuel, mixed with liquid oxygen. The Centaur will ignite after the Atlas V first stage burns its propellants and falls away. (AP Photo/NASA)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) ? NASA's effort to launch a pair of satellites to Earth's radiation belts has been delayed until late next week because of Tropical Storm Isaac.
The countdown was halted at the four-minute mark in the wee hours of Saturday ? for the second time in as many days.
Thunderstorms prevented the unmanned rocket from blasting off with NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes. On Friday, a tracking beacon on the rocket held up the flight.
NASA initially said it would try again Sunday. But with Isaac bearing toward Florida, launch managers decided to move the Atlas V rocket back into its hangar and sit tight until the storm passed. They're now aiming for a Thursday launch.
The twin satellites are designed to study Earth's harsh radiation belts. Scientists say the two-year, $686 million mission will improve space forecasting; the goal is to better guard against solar storms.
Spacecraft can be damaged, and astronauts hurt, from severe solar outbursts. Life here on the planet also can be disrupted.
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Online:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/rbsp/main/index.html
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