[KevinDavis]

T-minus 15 minutes and holding. Clocks have entered the first of two planned hold periods during the final portion of the Terminal Countdown. This pause will last 20 minutes in duration.

These holds are designed to give the launch team a chance to deal with any problems and catch up on work that could be running behind schedule.

[KevinDavis]

Kepler will become the 215th primary payload put into space by the venerable Delta 2 rocket. Here's a look at some other stats about tonight's mission. This will be:

* The 339th Delta rocket launch since 1960
* The third Delta of 2009
* The 141st Delta 2 rocket mission since 1989
* The 44th Delta 2 mission for NASA
* The 67th Delta 2 rocket fly in the 7925 configuration
* The 106th Delta 2 rocket to fly from Cape Canaveral
* The 46th Delta 2 launch from pad 17B