George Diller, NASA Launch Commentator: This is Delta Launch Control. We've had a
successful spacecraft separation of OCO-2 and the mission is on track for providing
us
with a healthy spacecraft, as well as having a successful flight on the Delta 2.
And here to talk about that with us is Tim Dunn, who is our NASA Launch Manager
during the countdown.
Tim, first of all, tell us what your understanding is about the, uh, about the satellite itself.
Then tell us how the flight went.
Tim Dunn, NASA Launch Director: Okay. So I just left the Mission Director's Center
where I was chatting with the
spacecraft mission director, and he had just received confirmation that solar arrays have
deployed, they are in contact with OCO-2, and the solar arrays were functional and they
were "power positive." All very good news.
George Diller, NASA Launch Commentator: All right. So we've had our mission
objective right off the bat as far as getting it to the right place at the right time.
So, how did the countdown of the flight look to you.
Tim Dunn, NASA Launch Director: Well the countdown was extremely smooth.
Very quiet. You probably noticed that there was not a lot of chatter on the nets.
George Diller, NASA Launch Commentator: It was very quiet.
Tim Dunn, NASA Launch Director: We had no anomalies to discuss on our anomaly
net. The range, uh, I want to thank the 30th Space Wing.
They had an impeccable range for us to launch on. Not a single instrumentation issue to
discuss throughout the countdown. The spacecraft was rock solid in the fairing during
the entire countdown. Delta 2 performed like a champ after almost three years back on
the pad. Although this was our second attempt at launching, it actually all came together
tonight. And, uh, we did experience that disappointment that we didn�t get off on our first
attempt yesterday. But being the professional team that we are, bounced right back, did
what we needed to do, came in today and now we're celebrating. There was pure joy in
the Mission Director's Center at spacecraft sep, I can tell you that.
George Diller, NASA Launch Commentator: Well Tim, it's uh good to know that we've
had a good flight and we're already seeing that OCO-2 is right on. We're going to be
having a post-launch briefing here very shortly at 5:30 pacific time. And we'll have our
project manage from JPL, Ralph Basillio tell us exactly what the
state of health of OCO-2 i.
But in any event, Tim tell us we've got another Delta 2 coming up out here before too
long.
Tim Dunn, NASA Launch Director: Yes, actually just this November we're going to be
back out, the LSP team will be back out here at Vandenberg for the SMAP mission.
The Soil Moisture Active Passive mission. So we're really looking forward to that.
Another mission on a Delta 2.
So, George if I could, I would like to mention something that you brought up yesterday
during our first attempt. And that was this mission was particularly special to Launch
Services Program. Because we dedicated it to one of our teammates, Laurie Walls, who
passed away earlier in June. So, uh, Laurie was a founding member of LSP. Has been
with the program the entire time until her death. We dedicated this mission to her and
she would have been thrilled with it. She loved Delta 2. I worked many missions with
her
and so we're really happy that we could honor her with this. There was a memorial
decal that was placed on the fixed umbilical tower.
George Diller, NASA Launch Commentator: Yes, she certainly would be very happy
with the successful outcome of this flight tonight.
Well, that's going to conclude our launch commentary coverage for this flight of the
Delta 2 with OCO-2. Stay tuned for the post-launch news conference at 5:30 pacific
time. And this will bring us to a conclusion of our coverage for tonight's launch.
This is Delta Launch Control.