After a record 27-month wait on the launch pad, a Lockheed Martin Atlas 2AS launched NASA's Terra spacecraft on December 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Launch day arrives Still enclosed in the protective mobile service tower, the Atlas rocket with Terra nestled inside the payload fairing await dawn. The rocket was stacked on pad in September 1997.
Clocks ticking to liftoff The mobile service tower was rolled away from the Atlas rocket just after sunrise at Space Launch Complex-3 East at Vandenberg Air Force Base as the countdown proceeded on scheduled.
Ignition! The Atlas rocket's three Atlas Rocketdyne MA-5A liquid-propellant engines roar to life moments before T-0. The two ground-start Thiokol Castor 4A solid rocket motors then lit.
Headed out of town Atlas begins pitch and roll maneuvers a few seconds after launch to begin the flight downrange from Vandenberg. The Atlas engines and two SRBs clearly seen doing their job.
A southern track To achieve a polar orbit around Earth for Terra, the Atlas rocket headed nearly due south from Vandenberg. The launch site is located north of Los Angeles along California's central Pacific coastline.
Losing dead weight After burning their solid-propellant fuel, the ground-started SRBs are jettisoned from the Atlas rocket to impact the Pacific in a predetermined area.
Hot launch An infrared camera tracks the Atlas rocket during the flight downrange. The three Atlas MA-5A engines are seen still firing.