NASA cancelled the launch of its Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite before the sun came up on the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif. due to high winds.
According to the Associated Press, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)-managed satellite was scheduled to take off early Thursday morning on a Delta 2 rocket. NASA will try again Friday morning.
SMAP cost the space agency $916 million to observe moisture trapped in soil.
"What the soil measurements will do is improve our weather forecasts, improve our assessments of water availability and also address some issues dealing with long-term climate variability and assessments of the impact of human intervention in the global environment," Dara Entekhabi, SMAP science team leader, said during a news conference, according to Space.com. "All of these come together and it's the metabolism, how it responds, just like a human body."
"Soil moisture is a key part of the three cycles that support life on this planet: the water cycle, the energy cycle and the carbon cycle," Christine Bonniksen, NASA SMAP program executive, said during the news conference. "These things affect human interest: flood, drought, disease control, weather."
SMAP was originally planned for a launch in 2014, but was delayed into the New Year. Its mission is expected to span three years.
