Florida Today has a feature to give you launch status updates by cell phone, for those of you headed for the beaches or barbecues.

I’d bet that they’re going to launch today–no technical issues (no ice formed where the foam came off) and the forecast is about as good as it gets. Unfortunately, we can’t drive all the way up and back from Boca, and also have the people over for the planned barbecue and fireworks tonight (at least not easily, with high probability of success). We might head up north of Jupiter or Hobe Sound, though, where the coast turns to the northwest to give a view of the Cape from the south on a barrier island. That would only take an hour each way, and be relatively uncrowded. We wouldn’t hear or feel the launch, but we’d see it. Still making plans.

Looks like there may be a launch today:

It’s very cloudy out around the launch pad this morning, and there are showers out to sea drifting this way, but it’s more than 8 hours before launch. Weather forecasters say those clouds and other unacceptable weather forces should move out of the spaceport area before the 2:38 p.m. liftoff. The weather forecast is only 20 percent “no go” and it very rarely ever gets better than that for any launch here on the Space Coast.

Looks like there may be a launch today:

It’s very cloudy out around the launch pad this morning, and there are showers out to sea drifting this way, but it’s more than 8 hours before launch. Weather forecasters say those clouds and other unacceptable weather forces should move out of the spaceport area before the 2:38 p.m. liftoff. The weather forecast is only 20 percent “no go” and it very rarely ever gets better than that for any launch here on the Space Coast.

Looks like there may be a launch today:

It’s very cloudy out around the launch pad this morning, and there are showers out to sea drifting this way, but it’s more than 8 hours before launch. Weather forecasters say those clouds and other unacceptable weather forces should move out of the spaceport area before the 2:38 p.m. liftoff. The weather forecast is only 20 percent “no go” and it very rarely ever gets better than that for any launch here on the Space Coast.

I’m informed by a reliable source within NASA that COTS is not being cut (at least, not now). PAO will supposedly be straightening the story out with Flight International. While I’m obviously glad to hear it, the fact remains that I was unshocked at the original story. Things like this have happened too many times before, and NASA still has the sad precedent of Alternate Access to live down.

[Update at 3:40 PM EDT]

Clark Lindsey makes a good point about the danger of these kinds of rumors:

According to the FI story, it was one or more of the companies among the finalists in the program that told them about the problem. If the companies are confused about the NASA funding, that’s obviously not a good thing since it would hamper their money raising among private investors. Most of the money for their projects will have to come from private sources.

[One more late-night Monday update]

I’m informed (again, reliably) that COTS is in fact sacrosanct, as a result of strong support from the White House. Which makes it a shame that it doesn’t get support for more funding. Five hundred million sounds like a lot in absolute terms, and it’s better than a kick in the teeth. But over several years, it’s a pittance, both against what it would really need to ensure a diversity in space transportation providers, and against what NASA will be spending otherwise, almost certainly much less productively.