Any word on the second stage being "go" at fueling today?

Second stage fueling has been completed.

Launch weather outlook is favorable with a 30% chance of violation.

Awesome! Thanks Ben

All...

NASA TV briefings on DAWN today, Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

September 25, Tuesday (all times EDT)
10 a.m. - Replay of Dawn Mission Science Briefing (Recorded in July) - HQ (Public and Media Channels)
1 p.m. - Dawn Mission Pre-Launch News Conference - KSC (Public and Media Channels)
4 p.m. - Replay of Dawn Mission Pre-Launch News Conference (Followed by Replay of Dawn Mission Science Briefing (Recorded in July) - HQ (Public and Media Channels)

Go to http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html and you may be able to view online.

Please note that NASA TV quite often changes its scehdule on the fly... so these may or may not play on time.

Craig

I could see during the conference that you don't call yourself "mars loon" for nothing : good question about science at Mars... and the one about life too. I hope you've got a better answer by now on this one than during the conference !
Thanks Ken

Nasa ready to launch Dawn probe to asteroid belt.

If someone's interested I've made a quick and dirty animation of the Ceres images obtained by Keck to today's spacEurope post about the mission.
I'm sure someone must have already done similar and with better quality by I couldn't find it.

We haven't leave the ground and I can't already wait to get there...

The Mobile Service Tower has rolled back... The Delta II is now completely out in the open.

I noticed the timeline after launch in this blog entry says the groundlit SRBs are jettisoned at T+1 min 20 s. Most of the Delta II launches I saw had the boosters separated right after burnout, at 65-ish seconds, but a couple of them held on to the groundlits longer. What's up with that?
Seems like carrying deadweight for no reason. Is this one of those booster disposal considerations similar to those weird dogleg maneuvers after sep?

"but a couple of them held on to the groundlits longer. What's up with that? "

I THINK they said in the prelaunch briefing that they're bigger strapons that burn longer. this is a Delta-II heavy.

Another interesting thing in the briefing was a response to a question about science during the mars flyby. They will do a full science run, but only at and after closest approach. The approach to Mars is from the nightside at a 160 degree phase angle... extremely narrow crescent 20 deg from the sun.

Any recent news regarding the weather?
I've receive an e-mail from Chris Russell, Dawn's PI, about this:
"Everything is AOK here (at Kennedy Space Center) except, as usual, the weather is wet on and off and we will not know if we have the conditions that permit launch until tomorrow (today) morning at 0720 EDT (1240 UTC - 0240 HST)".

This was already 9 hours ago, any developments?

That would make sense, but there's still for example this video (ffwd to 03:40). Granted, this was a Vandenberg launch so it was likely a booster disposal thing.

Coincidentally, that's one of the best RocketCams I've seen on a Delta II - excellent video quality, but the rocket executed the weirdest maneuvers ever. I wonder how much maneuvers like that affect payload capacity.

Just in:

The launch time weather forecast continues to predict scattered clouds at 3,000 and 10,000 feet, isolated rain showers in the area, northerly winds and a temperature around 77 degrees F. There is a 60 percent chance that weather will be acceptable for liftoff this morning. The cloud cover and showers are the concerns.

Should the launch be delayed to Friday for any reason, tomorrow's weather outlook calls for an 80 percent chance of good conditions.

Cross fingers... The outlook could improve once the weather observation plane becomes airborne

She looks beautiful there...
Dawn deserves a "GO!"

Fingers also crossed here.

Weather forecast improved to 80%!

According to http://www.spaceflightnow.com

http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d327/status.html Spaceflight Now's frequently updated live launch blog for those without bandwidthhttp://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ webcast for those with bandwidth.My DVD recorder's getting the launch coverage in 4-hour mode.A reminder:http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d327/status.html Spaceflight Now's frequently updated live launch blog for those without bandwidthhttp://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ webcast for those with bandwidth.My DVD recorder's getting the launch coverage in 4-hour mode.

You can watch live coverage from NASA TV off this link

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Everything looking good right now.....
Looks gorgeous out there ..... light those candles please....

Craig

Launch area weather conditions "go" for launch. Now in a 10 minute hold.

I can't watch videos at work, but I do have the still Kennedy Video feeds up Go Dawn ! My Mother in law is actually called Vesta .

Nice of NASA to schedule this launch at lunch time (for us folks in GMT (BST) land.

Really exciting stuff......................GO DAWN!!!!!!!!

Brian

Arrgghh! The range is "no go"...

Oh no a Range Hold !

Bah! Ship within SRB splashdown area!

Some idiot is in a boat in the restricted area down range, EEEEEEJIT!!!

New launch time 7:34

Coastguard has contacted ship.... expect out of area by 7:25am.

Out of hold at 7:30am... new launch time 7:34am.

Craig

NEW LAUNCH TIME. Liftoff has been reset for 7:34 a.m. EDT

Just fire a torpedo and get it over with...
Damn. Moron fishermen.

Launch in 10 minutes from now.

To set up the new launch time, would you believed that, they had also to wait that ISS cleared the "zone"

And we're counting again

Fairing jettissoned and 2nd stage engine on

Up Up and away.................. looking good

Well, here on Eastern time in the U.S., DAWN pretty much launched at dawn (OK, so sunrise is earlier, but it is really cloudy, so it is just getting light). Great timing!

Prelim orbit achieved...............

Time to breathe again!

Andy

Dawn's up in orbit!
I guess I'll have to get back to work now.

Question : I've seen a delay of about 45 seconds between spcaeflightnow's updates and Nasa TV, so I knew lift off has occured while I was still seeing the rocket on the launch pad. Do others have seen such differences ?

Yes, launch was at 11:34:00 according to the launch commentator but I didn't see it happen until 11:34:50 (give or take a few seconds).

That was because I was having problems with my router, and NASA was so kind as to delay the broadcast until I had it fixed. I got it working again and was connected again at about 7:34:40 (EST), and couldn't believe I hadn't missed it! Glad to see that NASA is so considerate, and to the rest of you, sorry about the delay.

But why does it say "Dawn Coast Phase Coverage Will Resume Shortly August 27, 2007" and not "September 27" on NASA TV?

Well done one and all working on that launch!

Very beautiful launch, best ELV of the year. Here are some of the photos I took:

http://www.launchphotography.com/Dawn.html

The media were relocated (somewhat by choice) to Jetty Park, but that turned out to be a beautiful turn of events. That's my favorite viewing site and it's rare that I can really go there.

Nice meeting you Ken! Enjoying the blogs too.

Very nice pictures indeed. Always differents from one launch to the other but as good as usual Ben.
BTW, Jetty Park is the place whre Stve Squyres watched Oppy's launch (Ref : Roving Mars). I guess it's a very good sign

Ben, great photos as usual. I particularly like the one 80 s after liftoff, the rocket seemingly going straight down and made visible by the wind blowing exhaust at the pad to the right. Headed into the "dawn" almost, towards the sun.

As usual, I'm only left wanting higher resolution versions - that one is wallpaper material!

Truly beautiful pictures since the weather was so calm, no winds up to high altitude. The smoke trail is long and straight.

Rats...sorry I missed the launch (was getting ready for work at the time, dammit!) But, so glad she's finally up & away!!! Thanks for the great recap, you guys.

Two posts about politics removed.

During the ascent.. maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a min into launch, the rocket passed a bright, unresolved white light in the sky (above the trajectory). I presume it was Venus, accidentally caught in that tracking camera's view.