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Upbeat music.

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We are here at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California where a large team of engineers

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and scientists are getting ready to launch the NPOESS Preparatory Project,

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better known as the NPP satellite. It is the Nation's first attempt

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to combine weather and climate observations on the same platform.

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It's also here at Vandenberg where the NPP spacecraft is sitting on top

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of Delta II rocket and we are going to take you inside, talk to the project scientist

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about what this mission means and follow the engineers in their final steps

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leading to countdown. What are the goals of the NPP mission?

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James Gleason: We want to continue the scientific measurements that NASA satellites have been

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making over the past decade and improved the

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that will be used for weather forecasting. Malissa Reyes: What's special about launching

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here from Vandenberg? James Gleason: Vandenberg is a very special place, it's

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where we can do the polar orbiting launches, we can launch South

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into a safe zone over the ocean. Malissa Reyes: Why a polar orbit?

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view the entire Earth twice a day, which is very important for our measurements.

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Malissa Reyes: Describe what we are seeing here in the tower. Michael Marosco: Ok the

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building on the left is the Mobile Service

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Tower or MST. It's a 177 feet tall

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and its on wheels. Once the tower is retracted, you'll see the rocket

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in all its glory. It's very exciting.

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The building on the right is the fixed umbilical tower.

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That provides the air conditioning, and other umbilicals over

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to the vehicle that are required all the way through T0.

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Malissa Reyes: What's going to be witnessed here on the ground after the count reaches zero?

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Michael Marosco: Aaah, you see the engines ignite, the rocket lifts

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off very quickly, after about two minutes, the rocket is pretty much out of sight.

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It goes really quick. This is Mobile Service

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Tower level 2. This is an 8-foot diameter tank.

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The Delta II carries ten thousand gallons of RP-1 fuel.

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So, this is what a ten thousand gallon fuel tank looks like.

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We are standing now on the level C level of the Mobile

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Service Tower. The forward end of the solid rocket motors.

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They are 40-inch diameter and each solid motor is 42,5 feet long.

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These solid motors each put out a

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hundred thousand pounds of thrust. Underneath in the red blanket

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is the rocket RS-27A main engine and that puts

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out about 250 thousand pounds of thrust.

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So, in this configuration at lift off

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850 thousand pounds of thrust.

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These motors will be jettisoned after about a minute and a half, two minutes of flight

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and they will end up in the bottom of the ocean. Malissa Reyes: We are here outside the

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Mission Director Center and we are joined by Jerry Nagy, the NPP Launch Operations

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Manager from Goddard Space Flight Center and Jerry, what happens here on the day of

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Jerry Nagy: Ok, well, this is really the hub of communication where

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the various management organizations from United Launch Alliance,

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NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and

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Ball Aerospace will take inputs from all the people that are supporting the launch and give the

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ok to actually launch the rocket. Malissa Reyes: How far are we from the tower right now?

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Jerry Nagy: We are approximately 12 miles from the launch pad. Ken Schwer: This is where the entire launch

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management team at the night of launch assembles. Each one of these

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rows have what we call back rooms so we have people in

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other parts of the facility in Vandenberg who are doing the engineering aspect of

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what they are doing so this all feeds together, we integrate and as we get closer to

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launch, each one of these groups has a person who says

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Go! Malissa Reyes: So how do the people in this room prepare for launch day?

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Ken Schwer: We actually have an event called a Mission Dress Rehearsal. So, we are all here, we have the countdown

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script, and then there is a team that has developed simulated anomalies for us.

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And each one of those groups needs to try to work through those and

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get them back to a “go” criteria and then continue on. Tim Dunn: …it is fully operational

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again. Malissa Reyes: So, the final Go! is given in this room? Ken Schwer: Yes,

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the final Go! is given in this room. Malissa Reyes: How do you think it is going to feel for you

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emotionally when you actually see that reaching into orbit? Ken Schwer: The safest

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place for a satellite is in orbit. The emotions of making sure it's finally in its home,

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it finally gets to do its job, it is hard to describe.

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What makes the aerospace industry so exciting is that one day

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a person can have a concept to meet our Nation's needs, which leads

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to many dedicated people working for quite a few years

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through the entire development until one day a satellite

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like NPP is ready for launch.

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Closing music.