The Boeing Delta IV rocket trails a plume of smoke as it roars through the thin cloud cover lifting the GOES-N satellite.

With flames close behind it, the Boeing Delta IV rocket trails a plume of smoke as it roars through the thin cloud cover, lifting the GOES-N satellite in to space. Liftoff from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was on time at 6:11 p.m. EDT. GOES-N is the latest in the Earth-monitoring series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites developed by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By maintaining a stationary orbit, hovering over one position on the Earth's surface, GOES will be able to provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes. Photo credit: NASA/Ken Thornsley