spacetoday.net: Delta 2 launches OCO-2 spacecraft

Posted: Wed, Jul 2, 2014, 8:32 AM ET (1232 GMT)
Delta 2 launch of OCO-2 (NASA)

After a one-day delay, a Delta 2 rocket successfully placed a NASA Earth science satellite into orbit early Wednesday. The Delta 2 7320 lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:56 am EDT (2:56 am local time, 0956 GMT) Wednesday after a problem-free countdown. The rocket's payload, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) satellite, separated from the Delta 2's upper stage 56 minutes after liftoff. The satellite, a replacement for the original OCO lost in a 2009 launch failure, will study carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere. The launch was previously scheduled for Tuesday but scrubbed with less than a minute left in the countdown because of a problem with the water supply in the launch pad's sound suppression system.