The hatch through which NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew members entered the Crew Dragon spacecraft has been closed and a leak check is complete. Launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley remains scheduled for 3:22 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Teams continue to monitor weather conditions throughout the area; there are showers popping up in the area, but the team is proceeding with the count. The next decision point will come prior to the loading of the rocket’s propellants.
NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission will serve as an end-to-end flight test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, from launch to docking to splashdown. It is the final flight test for the system to be certified for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.