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

Mars Pathfinder Mission Director Tony Spear narrates a video describing the launch preparations for the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft and the Sojourner rover.

The nation’s existing Atlas and Delta launch sites are vying for a future when United Launch Alliance completes its modernization with a new rocket system and downsizing to one pad on each coast.

NASA’s innovative soil moisture mapper, a new environmental satellite launching in January, has been fueled up for blastoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.