Video: Preparing Delta 2 and SMAP for flight

One-half of the instrument payload aboard NASA’s $916 million Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite has failed after collecting just two months of data, NASA announced Wednesday after weeks of troubleshooting turned up no progress in recovering the sensor.

The United Launch Alliance Delta 2 was launched Saturday at 6:22 a.m. local time with NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The United Launch Alliance flight highlights reel for the Delta 2 rocket and NASA’s SMAP observatory from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.