NASA Scrubs Launch Of Global Warming Satellite

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) — The planned launch of a rocket carrying a NASA satellite designed to track global warming has been postponed.

NASA says the countdown was stopped at 46 seconds because of a failure in the launch pad water flow.

The Delta 2 rocket was supposed to launch early today over Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The rocket is the second try for NASA. In 2009, the space agency launched a replica satellite aboard a smaller and cheaper Taurus XL rocket. Minutes after liftoff, the rocket crashed into the ocean off Antarctica.

Investigators later determined a piece of rocket hardware protecting the satellite did not separate as planned, preventing the satellite from reaching orbit.

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