CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) are set to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Aug. 23. The 20-minute launch window for the twin probes at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 begins at 4:08 a.m. EDT.

Launch commentary coverage, as well as prelaunch media briefings, will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

RBSP will explore space weather -- changes in Earth's space environment caused by the sun -- that can disable satellites, create power grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will allow researchers to understand fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the universe.

Prelaunch News Conference

A prelaunch news conference on NASA TV will be held at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site at 1 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20.

Briefing participants are:

-- Michael Luther, deputy associate administrator for programs, NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington

-- Tim Dunn, NASA launch director, Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

-- Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA Missions, United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo.

-- Richard Fitzgerald, RBSP project manager, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

Here is the original post:

NASA Sets Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission Launch Events Coverage