Atlas V rocket on pad for Thursday night launch
CAPE CANAVERAL — A 20-story Atlas V rocket is on its Cape Canaveral pad in preparation for a 10:44 p.m. ET Thursday blastoff with a quartet of NASA science satellites.
A transporter carrying the United Launch Alliance rocket emerged from a processing tower at Launch Complex 41 around 10 a.m. Wednesday and rolled about one-third of a mile to the pad.
Four identical observatories comprising NASA's $1.1 billion Magnetospheric Multiscale mission were stacked on top of the rocket.
The mission will spend two years studying "magnetic reconnection," a process in which magnetic fields interact, break apart and reform, releasing bursts of energy.
ULA loaded the Atlas V booster with rocket-grade kerosene, and will complete the fueling process Thursday evening.
The latest weather forecast continues to show a 70% chance of favorable weather during the 30-minute launch window.