I may or may not be able to watch the launch live (depends on work pressures), but I would just like to add my sincerest wishes for a successful launch.

Good luck!

Chris

There is some obvious weather change today at KSC...
Look at these webcam images...
Click to view attachment Click to view attachment Click to view attachment

Wow - even furlongs per fortnight

I'm impressed

Spaceflightnow.com
1445 GMT (9:45 a.m. EST)
NASA is not reporting any technical issues as the countdown continues.

Thats god news!!!

Who knows any NASA TV mirrors, I can only get 34Kbps live real streaming and the Yahoo! mirror doesn't work on my Mac.

I am using the realplayer link from here on my Mac, and it works fine.

(And yes, I use a Mac at work. Lucky me )

Chris

I'm following Mike Griffin's New Horizons Press Briefing on NASA TV, and EVERY DAMN QUESTION has to do with the Space Shuttle... do journalists realize how stupid they sound not asking a single question about the real reason that briefing was called??

Check to see if your connection speed is set correctly in Real Player. It's been a while since I've used RP, but there ought to be a setting on whether you're broadband or 56k dialup. The latter won't give you more than 48 kbps, imho, even if your connection is capable.

Speaking of live streams, is there a way to record the feed to your computer on the fly? I've had success with on-demand webcasts, but no luck with live feeds.
I'd really like a copy of the launch webcast as I don't want to depend on the NH site posting an archived and shortened launch feed...

Kudos to Bill Hardwood who said "I'm going to ask a question about New Horizons seing as no one else has"

Doug

When will they start pumping LOX and LH into rocket?

IIRC, first stage LOX loading begins at T-75 minutes. I have no idea when Centaur fueling begins, LH2 probably gets fueled last, though.

There was one other question (Would NH be turned off post encounter if it had been a success at Pluto) I missed who asked it though.

I was very disappointed with the seemingly endless "What about the Shuttle?" questions. Seems like most of the folks there didn't care about NH, next time we should ask to have a UMSF rep to ensure that there are more relevant questions.

Don't dump on the media too much - they are simply reflecting what the general public does and does not know about space exploration and where their interests do lie on the subject. It's up to NASA and the space community to make a better effort to educate the public and media about what is going on.

I guarantee you most people don't even have a clue right now until they see the evening news that a probe is about to be launched to Pluto. And what do they know about Pluto - well, it's either Mickey's dog or a place that's really far away, and oh yeah, it's pretty cold.

Maybe the space agencies and astronomers should ask the public more often what they want to see done with space exploration. Dan Goldin did that in the late 1990s on an informal basis, and he was very disappointed when he couldn't find anyone who wanted to know or see anything done about the International Space Station. They wanted NASA to put humans on Mars and find alien life.

Thanks. At the launch site now, cameras at the pad ready to go. Beautiful weather.

Go Atlas, Go Centaur, Go New Horizons!

You forgot "Go Star48B!"...

Good luck to you as well Ben - we're counting on your for the picture's we'll put on our walls of this one

Doug

Spaceflight Now.com
1607 GMT (11:07 a.m. EST)
Winds at the pad have gusted up to 29 knots. The limit is 33 knots at launch time.
Not so good news...

The clouds in the NASA TV feed are zipping along at a noticable clip but there doesn't seem to be any indication of worry from the NASA side ATM.

Ok, there are obviously some serious problems with the streaming videos. I get constant "buffering" on both WMV and RM streams.
Looks like major network congestion... grrrrr!

And I was really looking forward to watching this live

I've been getting a good rm feed for the past hour or so, no bufferring issues. Just switched to WMV, better audio and video quality. No connection issues from this side of the atlantic.

It figures. I'll remember this when someone starts to complain about poor webcast quality of ESA press conferences...

Cryogenic oxidizer is being filled into Centaur and First stage now...

You mean liquid Oxygen, right ? lol.

Well oxygen oxidizes, right?
Or does it reduce? I never could keep oxidation/reduction straight....

Don't feel bad - someone scheduled a meeting at 2:00pm EST, so my late lunch trip to the library is out. No streaming allowed in the building, so it's text-based launch observing for me. I knew I should have marked that that time in Outlook as "unavailable".

Little table of when each world got its first launch:

Moon 1959
Venus 1962
Mars 1964
Jupiter 1972
Mercury 1973
Saturn 1973
Uranus 1977
Neptune 1977
Pluto 2006

It's about time!

Yes TomaB that's Dr Carolyn PORCO for sure:
http://ww.planetary.org/saturn/whoswho.htm
( By The Way where did You get that photo ... is it online ? )

I'm afraid ljk4-1 is right about the media ...

That Atlas V looks awesome !

Checking NASA TV footage right now
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Yes it is...ups!!!
Here!!!
Meanwhile:
The first stage's bronze skin is icing over as the super-cold liquid oxygen continues to flow into the vehicle.
Rocket is turning white...see?
Click to view attachment

I can already imagine "This is Atlas launch con... BUFFERING... 1 0 liftoff... BUFFERING... first stage performance looks... BUFFERING... etc etc etc..."

No streaming here either, just refreshing webcam pics.

http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countd.../video45lh.html

Thanks for the link - better than nothing!

Waiting for a Meteo report... At Minus 1 Hour ... there were some 35 knots winds ...

T-1hour...
Looks sunny...
Click to view attachment

Pitty Dr Clyde TOMBAUGH can't see this but I believe some of his family memebers are at the launch site
The launch vehicle is almost completely white but still winds over 33 knots ...
Watching it closely, the scheduled T-4 minutes hold will be a critical moment

For those "at work" or with video player issues, you may be able to run the Java based cam viewer at:
http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/public/
You do need a Java capable browser...

Godspeed, New Horizons!

Border line winds.

Click to view attachment

Winds seems to be dropping bit

Winds 25 knots ... gusts 33 knots
But there's an issue with a drain valve on a LOX tank

Is there a bit clearer picture...I can't see numbers...

updated: 12:46 PM EST on January 17, 2006
Observed At: Titusville, Florida
Elevation: 33 ft / 10 m
[Mostly Cloudy]
75 °F / 24 °C
Mostly Cloudy
Wind: 13 mph / 20 km/h from the South
Wind Gust: 28 mph / 44 km/h

NEWSALERT: Tuesday, January 17, 2005 @ 1658 GMT
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The latest news from Spaceflight Now


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


NEW HORIZONS READY TO GO
------------------------
A space probe tiny in size stands ready for blastoff today atop a massive
rocket from Cape Canaveral. It is bound for the outskirts of our solar
systems -- a journey stretching many years and billions of miles -- in
pursuit of exploration and discovery. Follow this historic launch of
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket in
our live status center:

http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/status.html

MISSION VIDEO COVERAGE:

http://www.spaceflightnowplus.com/index.ph...to+New+Horizons


ATLAS 5 ROCKET ROLLS TO PAD ON EVE OF LAUNCH
--------------------------------------------
A grand adventure to explore the outer frontier of the solar system was
moved to the launch pad Monday morning for the final day of preparations
leading to blastoff.

http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/060116rollout.html

IMAGES: MONDAY MORNING'S ROLLOUT
http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/0601...t/rollout1.html


FIRST MISSION TO 9TH PLANET
---------------------------
New Horizons was built to become the first robotic explorer to visit Pluto
and probe the Kuiper Belt in the outskirts of the planetary neighborhood.
Check out this highly-detailed five-part preview story examining NASA's
New Horizons mission.

http://spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/060114preview.html

Didn't they have a similar problem with the MRO ?

There was only ONE gust of wind greater than 33 knots...

Who scheduled this for 5am?

I'm going to have to have words with Alan!

James :Yawn:

Couldn't miss this though!

Still exciting though ... T-4 minutes ... built-in 2 minutes hold

Engineers have determined the first stage liquid oxygen fill and drain valve issue is not a constraint. The issue is understood.

It's actually 10 minute hold...

NEW LAUNCH TIME! Liftoff has being delayed to 1:45 p.m. EST due to gusty ground winds.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av010/status.html

NEW LAUNCH TIME! Liftoff has been delayed to 1:45 p.m. EST due to gusty ground winds. Also, the valve issue needs to be wrapped up

Geez. Place your bets if it'll actually launch today.