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

The satellite awaiting launch early Saturday from California aboard the final flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket should allow scientists to more precisely track changes in our planet’s ice sheets, using six green laser beams to chart the height and slope of polar ice and glaciers, providing a key input into climate change research.

Launch pads and critical facilities at the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Matthew overnight Thursday, one of the most powerful storms to threaten Florida’s Space Coast since the dawn of the space age 50 years ago.

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.