NASA is preparing for a Thursday, Jan. 29, launch of the first U.S. Earth-observing satellite designed to collect global observations of surface soil moisture. The agency’s Soil Moisture Active Passive mission (SMAP) will lift off from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9:20 a.m. EST (6:20 a.m. PST) on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket.