Video: Preparing Delta 2 and SMAP for flight

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

NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive satellite blasts off aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket Saturday, launching into orbit on a three-year mission to measure moisture levels in Earth’s soils.

The SMAP observatory to map soil moisture distribution from 426 miles in space and its workhorse booster have been cleared for launch Thursday morning from California.