We report the first measurement of the preferential steric orientation of D-2 molecules associatively desorbing from a metal surface. The flux of D-2 desorbing from Pd(100) is probed by laser induced fluorescence with linearly polarized tunable vacuum ultraviolet radiation in the B (1) Sigma(u)(+)(v',J',M') <-- X(1) Sigma(g)(+)(v '',J '',M '') Lyman bands. In (v '' = 0) an increasing positive alignment with rotational quantum number is observed up to J '' = 6, establishing the preferred helicopter motion of the molecules. In (v '' = 1) and also for (v '' = 0,J '' = 7 and 8) an isotropic J vector distribution is measured.