The countdown has resumed and there are four minutes remaining until the 7:05 p.m. liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
T-4 Minutes and Counting
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The countdown has resumed and there are four minutes remaining until the 7:05 p.m. liftoff of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
The switch to internal power is complete. Standing by to pick up the countdown at 7:01 p.m.
Launch Conductor Scott Barney has checked in with his ULA team members and they confirmed they are go to resume the countdown at the T-4 minute mark. The hold will be released at 7:01 p.m. Liftoff is on schedule for 7:05 p.m. EDT.
OSIRIS-REx is switching from ground-based to internal power.
Countdown clocks are holding for 15 minutes in the final built-in hold of the night.
Although the countdown will pause at the T-4 minute mark, the team’s work will not. During this 15-minute planned hold, we can expect to hear final readiness polls as NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn and ULA Launch Conductor Scott Barney verify OSIRIS-REx, the Atlas V rocket and the Eastern Range are ready to proceed.
Weather conditions remain favorable for liftoff at 7:05 p.m. EDT. “All [launch commit criteria] are ‘go’ and expected to remain ‘go’ for the remainder of the countdown,” Launch Weather Officer Clay Flinn told controllers.
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In the image above from NASA TV, viewers can clearly see gaseous oxygen venting away from the Atlas V booster. This is normal and is caused when small amounts of cryogenic liquid oxygen boil off and are vented away. “All the fueling operations have gone perfectly fine today,” NASA Launch Commentator Mike Curie reported.