NASA says engineers reactivated the LADEE spacecraft's reaction wheels Saturday after the probe's flight computer suddenly shut them down moments after the mission's stunning blastoff Friday night.

The 844-pound Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, now on the first day of a multi-week journey to the moon, acquired a stable safe-mode attitude profile, according to a posting on the mission's website.

The spinning wheels generate momentum to point and stabilize the spacecraft.

Soon after deployment from its Minotaur launch vehicle, LADEE switched on its reaction wheels to null out excess motion and put the spacecraft in a stable pointing mode while ground controllers checked its health and activated its systems.

But LADEE's on-board computer sensed the reaction wheels were using more current than expected, and the spacecraft's software ordered the wheels to shut down as a safety precaution.

"This was determined to be the result of fault protection limits put in place prior to launch to safeguard the reaction wheels," NASA said in a statement posted online. "The limits that caused the powering off of the wheels soon after activation were disabled, and reaction wheel fault protection has been selectively re-enabled."

The spacecraft was otherwise healthy after Friday night's fiery launch from Wallops Island, Va., aboard a Minotaur 5 rocket.

"Our engineers will determine the appropriate means of managing the reaction wheel fault protection program. Answers will be developed over time and will not hold up checkout activities," said Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at NASA's Ames Research Center.

LADEE is circling Earth in a highly elliptical orbit with a far point more than 170,000 miles from Earth. Several rocket burns are planned over the next few weeks to adjust its orbit and position LADEE to be captured by the moon's gravity some time in early October.

NASA's latest moon mission, a $280 million project to study the lunar atmosphere, soared to space aboard a Minotaur 5 rocket Friday in a brilliant late-night launch from Virginia that lit up skies all along the U.S. East Coast. But the LADEE spacecraft hit a snag moments after deploying from the Minotaur's upper stage.

Read our full story.

Veteran launch photographer Ben Cooper gave us this amazing view of the Minotaur 5 rocket streaking through the sky over the Big Apple.

NASA says the LADEE spacecraft has phoned home, confirming it's in good health and in the correct orbit.

Orbital Sciences reports LADEE was deployed in a nominal orbit with a perigee of 197 kilometers and an inclination of 37.63 degrees. Those parameters are very close to preflight targets.

"Godspeed on your journey to the moon, LADEE," the launch conductor said.

LADEE separation! The 844-pound LADEE spacecraft has been released from the Minotaur 5 rocket.

Orbital Sciences confirms they see a good deployment of the yo-yo despin mechanism. Separation of LADEE is expected at T+plus 23 minutes, 26 seconds.

T+plus 18 minutes, 10 seconds. The Star 37FM motor has burned out. In a few minutes, the stage will extend weights on lanyards from the sides of the rocket. The force of the yo-yo despin system will halt the rocket's rotation before deployment of LADEE.

T+plus 17 minutes. Ignition of the Star 37FM motor confirmed.

T+plus 15 minutes, 50 seconds. The Star 37FM fifth stage has spun up for stabilization during the upcoming burn, which will last 63 seconds. Ignition is set for T+plus 16 minutes, 56 seconds.

T+plus 15 minutes. Coming up on spin-up of the fifth stage motor.

T+plus 14 minutes, 30 seconds. The fourth and fifth stages of the Minotaur 5 booster have separated.

T+plus 9 minutes. The fourth stage motor has exhausted its supply of propellant, beginning another coast phase. Separation of the fourth and fifth stages is scheduled for T+plus 14 minutes, 26 seconds. Spin-up of the Star 37FM fifth stage is set for T+plus 15 minutes, 41 seconds.

The launch vehicle is now in a parking orbit during this coast phase.

T+plus 7 minutes, 50 seconds. The Star 48 fourth stage has ignited to continue pushing LADEE toward orbit.

T+plus 7 minutes. Velocity now more than 13,000 mph as the rocket soars over the Atlantic Ocean. Coming up on jettison of the Minotaur 5's spent third stage and ignition of the fourth stage Star 48BV motor.

T+plus 4 minutes, 15 seconds. The Bermuda ground station has acquired the signal from the Minotaur rocket. Ignition of the fourth stage at T+plus 7 minutes, 20 seconds.

T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The third stage has expended its solid propellant and the rocket is now coasting through the upper reaches of the atmosphere to reach an altitude of 160 miles. This ballistic coast phase will last about 4 minutes.

T+plus 2 minutes, 45 seconds. The rocket has shed the payload fairing now that the vehicle is out of the dense lower atmosphere.

T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. Telemetry engineers report a good separation of the second and third stages. The SR120 motor will fire for 72 seconds. Coming up on jettison of the Minotaur 5's nose cone.

T+plus 1 minute. The first stage's SR118 motor has burned out and separated from the second stage, which is now firing. The Minotaur 5 is now traveling more than four times the speed of sound.

T+plus 40 seconds. The Minotaur 5 rocket is passing Max-Q, the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

LIFTOFF. Liftoff of the Minotaur 5 rocket with LADEE, a mission to answer enduring questions about the tenuous lunar atmosphere and demonstrate a laser testbed for an interplanetary internet.

T-minus 1 minute and counting.

T-minus 2 minutes and counting. The countdown automatic sequence has started and final limit checks are go.

The safe-and-arm devices are being rotated to the arm position.

T-minus 4 minutes and counting. The rocket's guidance system has been switched to navigation mode and the flight computer is armed for flight.

T-minus 5 minutes and counting. The rocket is being switched to internal power.

T-minus 6 minutes, 30 seconds. The launch decision authority has given final permission for launch.

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. The destruct system has been armed for liftoff.

T-minus 9 minutes, 30 seconds. The launch vehicle's flight termination system has been switched to internal power and the external power source has been turned off.

T-minus 12 minutes and counting. The exact launch time is being programmed into the Minotaur 5 flight computer.

T-minus 14 minutes and counting. The launch hazard area and impact limit lines are clear of personnel.

T-minus 15 minutes and counting. All stations report they are go for launch at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT).

T-minus 17 minutes and counting. Coming up on the final readiness check of the launch team.

T-minus 22 minutes and counting. Today's flight is the first Minotaur 5 rocket mission, and the 23rd Minotaur family launch since 2000. It marks the fifth Minotaur launch from Wallops Island, Va.

The Minotaur 5 is based on retired Peacekeeper missile motors. A smaller Minotaur 1 rocket uses Minuteman stages.

After launch, the Minotaur rocket will fly downrange east from the launch site. Ground stations near the Wallops launch pad, in Coquina, N.C., and in Bermuda will track the flight's initial milestones.

NASA's network of tracking satellites will also pick up signals from the rocket and LADEE during the launch.

The first ground site to detect signals from LADEE will be in Hartebeesthoek, South Africa, shortly after spacecraft separation.

T-minus 28 minutes and counting. The rocket's safety system is being turned on and tested.

T-minus 30 minutes and counting. The Minotaur 5's telemetry transmitters are being powered on.

If you live on the U.S. East Coast, from New England to the Carolinas and inland to Pittsburgh, you can catch a glimpse of tonight's launch. Check out this visibility map.

T-minus 37 minutes and counting. There are no planned built-in holds during today's countdown.

It will take 23 minutes, 26 seconds to release the 844-pound LADEE satellite in the planned highly elliptical orbit ranging in altitude from 124 miles to 172,741 miles with an inclination of 37.65 degrees.

Follow the launch with this timeline and map of its ground track.

The final weather briefing from the launch weather officer forecasts ideal conditions at launch time. Meteorologists predict light east-southeast winds at 4 knots, a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit, and a few clouds at 5,000 feet.

Upper level winds look favorable as well, with light winds all the way up through the atmosphere. "We have absolutely nothing that's going to stop our launch," the weather officer said.

T-minus 46 minutes and counting. Engineers report the booster's navigation system is properly aligned for flight.

T-minus 50 minutes and counting. The Minotaur's inertial navigation system is being aligned for launch.

T-minus 60 minutes and counting. The launch team continues working through the final launch checklist. No issues are being worked by the ground, launch vehicle and spacecraft teams.

T-minus 67 minutes and counting. The launch team is powering up the Minotaur 5 rocket's S-band communications system for launch.

T-minus 68 minutes and counting. The launch team is powering up systems on the Minotaur 5 launcher for final testing and launch.

T-minus 70 minutes and counting. The countdown is entering the final phase and engineers are conducting final checks to ready the Minotaur 5 rocket for liftoff at 0327 GMT (11:27 p.m. EDT).

T-minus 75 minutes. Standing by to enter the final launch checklist at T-minus 70 minutes.

T-minus 90 minutes. This is a relatively quiet phase of the countdown until the final prelaunch checklist begins at T-minus 70 minutes.

A reminder if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional countdown updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates on your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

Follow along with tonight's launch by checking out this timeline of key events during the Minotaur's ascent into space.

And view a ground track map of the Minotaur's flight path on the way to orbit this evening.

The launch team has completed final vehicle arming, and the pad crew is preparing to evacuate the launch pad for launch.

The weather looks pristine for launch, with clear skies and crisp temperatures in the mid-60s Fahrenheit.

"We have very clean and green weather right now," said Air Force Col. Urban Gillespie, the mission director for tonight's launch. "It's a good night for a launch."

The launch team reports the launch pad is ready to begin final arming procedures for the Minotaur 5 rocket. The pad team is completing the final arming of the launcher now.

T-minus 3 hours. After completing the pre-flight vehicle test checklist, Minotaur and ground support equipment have been powered down.

During the last couple of hours, the team retracted the launch pad gantry, established radio connections with the Minotaur launcher, and checked the rocket's flight termination system.

Launch controllers also did a steering check up the Minotaur's fourth stage Star 48BV motor's thrust vector control system. And the launch team aligned the Minotaur 5's inertial navigation system.

Checks of the Minotaur flight termination system are complete as the launch countdown continues toward liftoff at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT).

The 127-foot-tall mobile gantry is being retracted away from the Minotaur 5 rocket on the launch pad. The 80-foot-tall launcher is now exposed on launch pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

The structure is moved back from the launch pad using a truck similar to an airplane pushback tractor.

The gantry's height was raised to 127 feet to support the Minotaur 5, which is taller than its smaller counterpart, the Minotaur 1. Four Minotaur 1 rockets have launched from pad 0B since December 2006.

Workers also replaced access platforms to accommodate the Minotaur 5's larger diameter.

The weather outlook continues to show only a 5 percent chance of conditions prohibiting an on-time launch this evening.

T-minus 5 hours and counting. The launch team has assembled in the launch control center on the main base of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, and clocks have begun ticking backward toward liftoff at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT).

Nearly 50 senior managers from NASA, the Air Force, Orbital Sciences and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport occupy the control room during countdown operations.

The Minotaur launch countdown is set to begin at 6:27 p.m. EDT (2227 GMT), exactly five hours before the opening of tonight's launch window.

The first steps of the countdown include the activation of the launcher's on-board computer, followed by communications checks between the rocket's S-band telemetry system and ground receivers.

The Minotaur's inertial guidance system will aligned for flight, and the launch team will check the rocket's destruct system to ensure it is ready to terminate the flight if the rocket goes off course and threatens populated areas.

Engineers will also conduct a steering check of the Star 48 fourth stage's thrust vector control system.

After initial testing is complete, the launch team will power down the Minotaur rocket, workers will clear the launch pad, and the final prelaunch checklist will begin at T-minus 70 minutes.

NASA's new moon mission, designed to survey the little-known lunar atmosphere, will blast off from Virginia on Friday aboard a U.S. Air Force Minotaur 5 rocket assembled from stockpiled Peacekeeper missile motors originally built to hurl nuclear weapons at targets across the globe.

Read our full story.

A diminutive NASA satellite is wrapped inside the nose cone of a five-stage Minotaur 5 rocket on an austere launch pad on the rural Virginia coastline, ready to begin a circuitous journey to the moon on a $280 million mission to answer enduring questions about the tenuous lunar atmosphere.

Read our full story.

Officials report no issues are being worked with the Minotaur 5 rocket, the LADEE spacecraft or ground systems, and everything is on track for launch Friday night at 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT).

The launch from pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a facility owned and operated by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, should be visible along the U.S. East Coast from South Carolina to New England.

If you're in the area and want to see the launch, check out this map showing its visibility, weather permitting.

Technicians are today arming the Minotaur rocket's five solid-fueled stages and conducting final checks and closeouts.

The launch countdown will begin at T-minus 5 hours at 6:27 p.m. EDT (2237 GMT). The launch team will activate the Minotaur booster, check its communications links with the Wallops range systems, and put the launch vehicle through testing to verify its readiness for liftoff.

The launch window Friday night extends for 5 minutes.

The weather forecast calls for mostly clear skies and favorable conditions, with just a 5 percent chance of bad weather preventing launch.

Mission managers today gave approval to continue launch preparations for Friday's flight of a Minotaur 5 rocket from Virginia with NASA's moon-bound LADEE spacecraft.

The $280 million mission is scheduled to blast off at 11:27 p.m. EDT Friday (0327 GMT Saturday) from launch pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

Officials met today for the launch readiness review to discuss the status of the launch vehicle, the LADEE spacecraft, ground systems and the weather outlook for Friday night's four-minute launch window.

No problems were reported, according to George Diller, a NASA spokesperson.

The weather forecast calls for favorable conditions Friday night, with temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit. There is just a 5 percent chance of weather violating launch criteria due to cloudiness moving in from offshore, Diller said.

Officials completed a mission dress rehearsal this afternoon to practice countdown procedures ahead of Friday's activities.

The 80-foot-tall, five-stage Minotaur 5 rocket is making its first flight. The launch of LADEE also marks the first lunar mission to launch from Wallops.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer is beginning a 160-day mission to study the composition and dynamics of the moon's tenuous atmosphere.

The late-night launch will be visible along the U.S. East Coast, with viewing opportunities available from South Carolina to New York and inland to the Appalachians.

If you're in the area and want to see the launch, check out this map showing its visibility, weather permitting.

Technicians lifted a NASA moon probe on top of a Minotaur rocket on Saturday, crowning an eight-story, five-stage booster set for an historic liftoff from Virginia on Sept. 6.

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a $280 million mission to measure the dynamics of the moon's tenuous atmosphere, was hoisted atop the Minotaur launcher on pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virgnia's Eastern Shore.

The 844-pound LADEE satellite was enclosed inside a 92-inch diameter payload fairing with the Minotaur's fifth stage - a Star 37FM solid-fueled motor built by ATK.

The fifth stage will spin up and fire to inject LADEE into a highly elliptical orbit around Earth. LADEE's on-board propulsion system will propel the spacecraft on a transit trajectory toward the moon, where it will enter orbit on a mission to sample the lunar atmosphere, solve the mystery of the moon's levitating dust, and demonstrate long-range laser communications from deep space.

LADEE's mission is projected to last about 160 days.

The launch is scheduled for 11:27 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6 (0327 GMT on Sept. 7) at the opening of a four-minute launch window. The mission is the first launch of a moon mission from Wallops, which has launched more than 14,000 rockets since its establishment in 1945.

The LADEE mission marks the first flight of a new version of the Minotaur rocket family.

The Minotaur 5 features five solid-fueled rocket motors, a mix of surplus rockets from the U.S. Air Force's stockpile of decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles and commercially-procured motors built by ATK.

The U.S. Air Force uses Minotaur rockets to launch small military research satellites, but the LADEE mission is the first time NASA will fly a primary payload on the Minotaur. The launch was arranged through a special agreement between NASA and the Defense Department, which manages the Minotaur program with Orbital Sciences Corp., the rocket's prime contractor and operator.

The Minotaur 5 rocket's three lower stages, the Peacekeeper SR118, SR119 and SR120 motors, were stacked on launch pad 0B on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12. The booster's Star 48BV fourth stage was added to the Minotaur on Aug. 17.

The Minotaur 5 was assembled inside a mobile gantry and mounted on a concrete pedestal. The gantry will be moved away from the launch pad a few hours before liftoff.

The Minotaur launch team plans a mission dress rehearsal Sept. 3, and the launch readiness review Sept. 4 will give approval for final flight preps and the countdown.