NASA TV Coverage Set for NOAA DSCOVR Launch Feb. 10

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Feb 09, 2015, 12:55 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) now is scheduled to launch at 6:05 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 10 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. There is a backup launch opportunity at 6:03 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

NASA Television coverage of Tuesday's launch will begin at 5 p.m.

Following a launch scrub on Sunday, officials from NOAA, the U.S. Air Force and NASA chose Feb. 10 for the next launch attempt because of more favorable weather forecasts for Tuesday and Wednesday compared to Monday. While it is not required for flight, SpaceX will leverage the extra time to replace a video transmitter on the first stage in advance of the next attempt.

DSCOVR is a partnership between NOAA, NASA and the U.S. Air Force. DSCOVR will maintain the nation's solar wind observations, which are critical to the accuracy and lead time of NOAA's space weather alerts, forecasts, and warnings. Space weather events like geomagnetic storms, caused by changes in solar wind, can affect public infrastructure systems such as power grids, telecommunications systems, and aircraft avionics.

For countdown updates beginning at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, visit:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/dscovr/

For more information on the DSCOVR mission, visit:

http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/DSCOVR/

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

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SOURCE NASA