spacetoday.net: Gravity Probe B launch delayed

Posted: Mon, Apr 19, 2004, 7:59 PM ET (2359 GMT)
Gravity Probe B illustration (Stanford Univ.)

The launch of NASA's Gravity Probe B spacecraft has been delayed 24 hours because of a last-minute glitch loading data into its Delta 2 launch vehicle. The rocket had been scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 1:01 pm EDT (1701 GMT), but was scrubbed when launch controllers were unable to verify that the correct wind profile data from a weather balloon had been loaded into the launch vehicle's control system. Because the spacecraft has an instantaneous launch window, the launch was postponed, and has been rescheduled for 12:57 pm EDT (1657 GMT) Tuesday. The spacecraft, whose origins date back to the early Space Age, is designed to test Einstein's general theory of relativity.