Update: NASA and SpaceX Targeting Sunday, Jan. 19, for In-Flight Abort Test

SpaceX In-flight abort test
The uncrewed in-flight abort demonstration is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Sunday, Jan. 19, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. There is a six-hour test window. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 8 a.m. EST Sunday, Jan. 19, for launch of the company’s In-Flight Abort Test from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, which will demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to safely escape the Falcon 9 rocket in the event of a failure during launch. The abort test has a six-hour launch window.

Teams are standing down from today’s launch attempt due to poor splashdown and recovery weather.

For tomorrow’s launch attempt, meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing predict a 60% chance of favorable weather toward the opening of the window with a 40% chance toward the end of the window. The primary concerns for launch day are the thick cloud layer and flight through precipitation rules during the launch window.

The test launch will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website. Here’s the upcoming mission coverage:

Sunday, Jan. 19

  • 7:40 a.m. – NASA TV test coverage begins for the 8 a.m. liftoff
  • 9:30 a.m. – Post-test news conference at Kennedy, with the following representatives:
    • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
    • SpaceX representative
    • Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
    • Victor Glover, astronaut, NASA Commercial Crew Program
    • Mike Hopkins, astronaut, NASA Commercial Crew Program

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

SpaceX In-Flight Abort: Launch Window Update

SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test illustration
NASA and SpaceX teams are planning to target a launch of Saturday’s in-flight abort test in the last hour of the four-hour window. The test window opens at 8 a.m. EST. Illustration credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX are targeting the launch of the company’s In-Flight Abort Test on Saturday, Jan. 18, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Although the test window opens at 8 a.m. EST, teams are planning to target a launch in the last hour of the four-hour window due to sea state conditions for the splashdown of the Crew Dragon spacecraft in the Atlantic Ocean. The test teams will continue to monitor weather and update the launch time accordingly in the morning.

SpaceX will demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to safely escape the Falcon 9 rocket in the event of a failure during launch.

The test launch will air on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Here’s the upcoming mission coverage:

 Saturday, Jan. 18

  • TBD a.m. – NASA TV test coverage will begin about 20 mins prior to liftoff
  • TBD a.m. – Post-test news conference at Kennedy, with the following representatives:
    • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
    • SpaceX representative
    • Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
    • Victor Glover, astronaut, NASA Commercial Crew Program
    • Mike Hopkins, astronaut, NASA Commercial Crew Program

Learn more about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

Tune in for This Afternoon’s NASA and SpaceX In-Flight Abort Pretest Briefing

SpaceX illustration of in-flight abort test
Illustration of the SpaceX Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket during the company’s uncrewed In-Flight Abort Test for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Illustration credit: SpaceX

A pretest briefing for SpaceX’s in-flight abort demonstration will take place today at 1 p.m., at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The briefing will be broadcast on NASA Television, and can been viewed on the agency’s website. Participants include:

  • Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
  • Benji Reed, director Crew Mission Management, SpaceX
  • Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Space Wing

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing predict a 90% chance of favorable weather for tomorrow’s in-flight abort test. The primary concerns for launch day are the flight through precipitation rule during Saturday’s four-hour launch window, which opens at 8 a.m. EST.

The flight test is planned to demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to safely escape the Falcon 9 rocket in the event of a failure during launch. More details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found in the press kit online at https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ccp-press-kit/main.html and by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

SpaceX In-Flight Abort: Launch Readiness Review Complete, Weather 90% ‘Go’ for Test

SpaceX Demo-1 Preflight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen at Launch Complex 39A during preparations for the Demo-1 mission on March 1, 2019 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA and SpaceX will launch an in-flight abort test with Crew Dragon on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. Photo credit: NASA

Teams from NASA and SpaceX are “go” for launch following today’s launch readiness review ahead the company’s in-flight abort test as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Launch is scheduled for 8 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 18, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The flight test is planned to demonstrate Crew Dragon’s ability to safely escape the Falcon 9 rocket in the event of a failure during launch.

Watch the pre-test news conference at 1 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, on NASA TV and the agency’s website. The participants include:

  • Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
  • Benji Reed, director, Crew Mission Management, SpaceX
  • Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing predict a 90% chance of favorable weather, with the primary concerns for launch day being the flight through precipitation rule during the four-hour launch window.

More details about the mission and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program can be found in the press kit online at https://www.nasa.gov/specials/ccp-press-kit/main.html and by following the commercial crew blog, @commercial_crew and commercial crew on Facebook.

Early Weather Reports Positive for SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test

SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test preview
In-flight abort is the final, major test before astronauts fly aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Photo credit: SpaceX

With the launch of SpaceX’s in-flight abort demonstration three days away, early weather reports are promising. According to Mike McAleenan, a launch weather officer with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing, there is a 90 percent chance of favorable weather at liftoff. The primary concern is flight through precipitation, as some shallow coastal rain showers are predicted.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Saturday, Jan. 18, for the In-Flight Abort Test from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. The four-hour test window starts at 8 a.m. EST. The test will demonstrate the escape capabilities of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft — showing that the crew system can protect astronauts even in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch.

In-flight abort is the final, major test before astronauts fly aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. For this test, SpaceX will configure Crew Dragon to intentionally trigger a launch escape prior to 1 minute, 30 seconds into flight to demonstrate Crew Dragon’s capability to safely separate from the Falcon 9 rocket in the unlikely event of an in-flight emergency.

Live coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Friday, Jan. 17, with a pretest briefing. Watch live coverage at www.nasa.gov/nasalive.

NASA Prepares for Deep Space Exploration by Growing Tomato Plants from Irradiated Seeds

Lashelle Spencer, plant scientist with the Laboratory Support Services and Operations (LASSO) contract at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, takes measurements on ‘Red Robin’ dwarf tomato plants, Jan. 10, 2019, inside a laboratory in the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility.
Credit: NASA/Cory Huston

Lashelle Spencer, plant scientist with the Laboratory Support Services and Operations (LASSO) contract at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, takes measurements on ‘Red Robin’ dwarf tomato plants on Jan. 10, 2020, inside the Plant Processing Area in the spaceport’s Space Station Processing Facility.

The tomatoes are growing from seeds that have been exposed to simulated solar particle radiation. The plants’ edible mass and nutrients will be measured and compared to those of control plants, grown from non-irradiated seeds.

The project was designed to confirm that nutritious, high-quality produce can be reliably grown in deep space, or to provide a baseline to guide development of countermeasures to protect future crop foods from radiation during missions beyond low-Earth orbit. The investigation on space radiation impact on seeds and crop production also will be carried on the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) platform outside the station, supported NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and the Space Biology Program, and potentially on future beyond-low-Earth-orbit platforms.

Team Practices Booster Stacking for Artemis Missions

In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments to stack them atop other pathfinder segments during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020.
In High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane moves Space Launch System (SLS) solid rocket booster pathfinder segments to stack them atop other pathfinder segments during a training exercise on Jan. 8, 2020. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems team, including engineers, technicians and crane operators with contractor Jacobs, are practicing lifting and stacking operations with pathfinder segments of Northrup Grumman’s solid rocket boosters, which will provide extra thrust for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Practice took place in High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

”The pathfinder training has gone extremely well,” according to Michael McClure, Jacobs’ lead engineer for the Handling, Mechanical and Structures Engineering Group. “This is part of a series of practice exercises, which are providing great experience, especially for our new technicians, engineers, quality control personnel and crane operators.”

Stacking rehearsals help prepare the team for actual processing of launch hardware for Artemis missions. These specific pathfinder segments are inert, full-scale replicas of the actual solid rocket boosters, with the same weight (300,000 pounds) and center of gravity.

During launch hardware processing, the booster segments will be shipped by train to Kennedy from the Northrup Grumman facility in Utah. They will arrive at a processing facility to be configured for final processing, then move to the VAB, where the launch processing team will stack them vertically on the mobile launcher. After the boosters are stacked, the SLS Core Stage will be lowered onto the mobile launcher and will be mated to the boosters.

At launch, the five-segment, 17-story-tall twin boosters will provide 3.6 million pounds of thrust each at liftoff to help launch the SLS carrying Orion on Artemis I, its first uncrewed mission beyond the Moon.

Watch a time lapse video of booster segment training at https://go.nasa.gov/2ts6u3w.

 

 

 

 

 

Successful Static Tests Set Stage for Key In-Flight Abort Demonstration

SpaceX In-flight abort test
The uncrewed in-flight abort demonstration is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 18, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. There is a four-hour test window. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA and SpaceX are preparing to launch the final, major test before astronauts fly aboard the Crew Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The test, known as in-flight abort, will demonstrate the spacecraft’s escape capabilities — showing that the crew system can protect astronauts even in the unlikely event of an emergency during launch. The uncrewed flight test is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 18, at the start of a four-hour test window, from Launch Complex 39A in Florida.

SpaceX performed a full-duration static test Saturday, Jan. 11, of the Falcon 9 and completed a static fire of the Crew Dragon on Nov. 13 setting the stage for the critical flight test.

Prior to launch, SpaceX and NASA teams will practice launch day end-to-end operations with NASA astronauts, including final spacecraft inspections and side hatch closeout. Additionally, SpaceX and NASA flight controllers along with support teams will be staged as they will for future Crew Dragon missions, helping the integrated launch team gain additional experience beyond existing simulations and training events.

After liftoff, Falcon 9’s ascent will follow a trajectory that will mimic a Crew Dragon mission to the International Space Station matching the physical environments the rocket and spacecraft will encounter during a normal ascent.

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Atlas V Rocket to Launch New Sun Mission Takes Shape at Cape Canaveral

The booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is lifted into the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 6, 2020.
The booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is lifted into the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 6, 2020. Photo credits: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The booster of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will launch the Solar Orbiter spacecraft is lifted into the vertical position at the Vertical Integration Facility near Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 6, 2020.The rocket that will launch a new spacecraft to study the Sun is beginning to take shape at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The first-stage booster for the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is “on stand,” meaning it has been raised to a vertical position inside the complex’s Vertical Integration Facility. In the coming days, the one solid rocket booster needed for the mission will be added to the booster, followed by the single-engine Centaur upper stage.

Solar Orbiter is an international cooperative mission between ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. The mission aims to study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and solar wind. The spacecraft will provide the first images of the Sun’s poles. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is managing the launch. Liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2020.

NASA’s Launch Services Program Prepares for Upcoming 2020 Missions

An artist's concept of NASA's Mars 2020 rover exploring the Red Planet.
An artist’s concept of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover exploring the Red Planet. Photo credit: NASA

NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) is ringing in the New Year with three planned science missions in 2020, aimed at studying the Sun, Mars and our oceans. The first two missions will be launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, while the third will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Launching in February, Solar Orbiter is a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, which will study the Sun, its outer atmosphere and the solar wind. The spacecraft, developed by Airbus Defence and Space, will provide the first-ever images of the Sun’s poles. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft will launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 411 rocket, and liftoff is scheduled for Feb. 5. LSP will manage the launch.

NASA’s Mars 2020 mission is targeting to launch in July. Established under the agency’s Mars Exploration Program, the mission will send a rover to the Red Planet to search for signs of ancient microbial life. It also will help us better understand the planet’s geology, collect rock and soil samples that can later be returned to Earth and test new technologies that could pave the way for future human exploration of Mars.

The rover is being manufactured at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and will be sent to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in mid-February. The rover will launch on a ULA Atlas V 541 rocket, procured by LSP, and is expected to land on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021.

Sentinel-6/Jason CS (Continuity of Service), the final mission of 2020, is projected to launch later in the year and will observe global sea level changes. The mission – a collaboration between ESA and NASA – aims to collect high-precision ocean altimetry measurements using two consecutive and identical satellites. The Sentinel-6 mission will launch from California on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“LSP is incredibly excited to execute the 2020 launch manifest,” said Tim Dunn, LSP launch director. “Additionally, LSP will provide advisory expertise for four Commercial Crew Program missions and four Commercial Resupply Services program missions – all in support of the International Space Station. Also, throughout the year, LSP will be launching numerous CubeSat missions, focused on making space accessible to educational institutions.”