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\h        George Diller/SDO Launch Commentator:      
    This is Atlas Launch Control at T minus two

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\h        hours, 26 minutes, 28 seconds and counting.

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\h        We are live from the Atlas Spaceflight     
    Operations Center at Launch Complex-41     
    where we are awaiting the

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\h         liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with the Solar Dynamics Observatory, targeted for 10:23 this morning.

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\h        So, we're just over three hours away from the liftoff of the Atlas V.

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\h        SDO is a five-year mission that will deliver solar images with 10 times better resolution than high-definition television.

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\h        SDO will observe the sun from its deep interior to the outermost layers of the solar atmosphere.

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\h        The mission will focus on the cause of severe space weather, including solar activities,

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\h        such as sun spots,     
    solar flares and the effects of the solar wind.

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\h        Space weather can affect radio and satellite communications, navigation and GPS systems,

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\h        and electric power grids. It can also pose a threat to astronauts in space and airplane crews flying near the polar regions.

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\h        At this point in the countdown, everything is "go" from the standpoint of our Atlas V rocket.

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\h        And we have also verified the readiness of the downrange tracking stations to support, including the station here at the Cape,

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\h        the Air Force tracking station at Jupiter Inlet in south Florida, and our Antigua Island tracking     station.

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\h        Also, we have completed data flows through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.