Video: Tower rollback prior to launch of Mars Pathfinder atop a Delta 2

A Delta 2 rocket boosted by nine strap-on motors and two liquid-fueled stages will launch NOAA’s JPSS 1 weather satellite into a 511-mile-high (822-kilometer) orbit following liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Brisk upper level winds blowing from the west thwarted a second try to launch a new NOAA weather satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket Wednesday, likely postponing the liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California until at least Saturday.

Navigation satellites, communications spacecraft, classified missions, NASA science projects and the Orbital Sciences Cygnus cargo ship destined for the International Space Station are on the United Launch Alliance manifest for the new year.