A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after its liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, on the company’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after its liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, on the company’s 30th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and return cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn BensonA SpaceX Dragon launched on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket at 4:55 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of research, hardware, and supplies to the International Space Station.
NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website continue to provide live coverage of the ascent. About 12 minutes after launch, Dragon will separate from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, open its nosecone, and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station
The spacecraft is on track to arrive at the International Space Station on Saturday, March 23, with an expected docking of the cargo spacecraft about 7:30 a.m. EDT. Watch live coverage of the arrival on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
When it arrives to the space station, Dragon will dock to the station’s Harmony module. NASA astronauts Loral O’Hara and Michael Barratt will monitor the arrival of the spacecraft.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the company’s Dragon spacecraft atop, stands in a vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in preparation for the 30th commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station. NASA and partner research flying aboard the mission includes a look at plant metabolism in space and a set of new sensors for free-flying Astrobee robots to provide 3D mapping capabilities. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
New research and technology demonstrations for NASA are scheduled to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station at 4:55 EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Coverage of launch and docking activities will air live on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Full mission timeline is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on operations):
COUNTDOWN Hour/Min/Sec Events 00:38:00 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
00:35:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
00:35:00 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
00:16:00 2nd stage LOX loading begins
00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins pre-launch engine chill
00:05:00 Dragon transitions to internal power
00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
00:01:00 Propellant tanks pressurize for flight
00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
LAUNCH AND DRAGON DEPLOYMENT Hour/Min/Sec Events 00:00:58 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:19 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:22 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:29 2nd stage engine starts
00:02:32 Boostback Burn Starts
00:03:24 Boostback Burn Ends
00:06:20 1st stage entry burn starts
00:06:40 1st stage entry burn ends
00:07:26 1st stage landing burn starts
00:07:50 1st stage landing
00:08:35 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:11:48 Dragon separates from 2nd stage
00:12:40 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will carry more than 6,000 pounds of cargo, including new science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the international crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA and its partners will send studies aboard the mission on plant metabolism in space and a set of new sensors for free-flying Astrobee robots to provide 3D mapping capabilities. Other research includes a fluid physics study that could benefit solar cell technology and a university project from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) that will monitor sea ice and ocean conditions.
Arrival at the station is scheduled for approximately 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will dock autonomously to the zenith port of the station’s Harmony module.
Seen here is an up-close view of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft atop the company’s Falcon 9 rocket after being raised to a vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in preparation for the 30th commercial resupply services launch to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 4:55 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
New research and technology demonstrations for NASA are set to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. The U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions at the launch pad for liftoff. Launch is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 21, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Live launch coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will carry more than 6,000 pounds of cargo, including new science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the international crew aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA and its partners will send studies aboard the mission on plant metabolism in space and a set of new sensors for free-flying Astrobee robots to provide 3D mapping capabilities. Other research includes a fluid physics study that could benefit solar cell technology and a university project from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) that will monitor sea ice and ocean conditions.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, on the company’s 29th commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:28 p.m. EST. Photo credit: SpaceX
New research and technology demonstrations for NASA are set to launch aboard the agency’s SpaceX 30th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 21, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Live launch coverage will air on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch events starting Tuesday, March 19. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will deliver new scientific investigations, food, supplies, and equipment to the international crew. NASA and its partners will send studies aboard the mission on plant metabolism in space and a set of new sensors for free-flying Astrobee robots to provide 3D mapping capabilities. Other research includes a fluid physics study that could benefit solar cell technology and a university project from CSA (Canadian Space Agency) that will monitor sea ice and ocean conditions.
Arrival at the station is scheduled for approximately 7:30 a.m. Saturday, March 23. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will dock autonomously to the zenith port of the station’s Harmony module.
The spacecraft is expected to spend about a month attached to the orbiting outpost before it returns to Earth with research and cargo, splashing down off the coast of Florida.
NASA engineers Julie Cox and Kate Gasaway install a solar panel on the BurstCube spacecraft in this image. The work was conducted in the CubeSat Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Photo credit: NASA/Sophia Roberts
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative is sending a group of four small satellites, called CubeSats, to the International Space Station as ELaNa 51 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites). These small payloads have been developed by NASA and universities and will be deployed from low Earth orbit.
Once circling Earth, the satellites will help demonstrate and mature technologies meant to improve solar power generation, detect gamma ray bursts, determine crop water usage, and measure root-zone soil and snowpack moisture levels.
The suite of satellites will hitch a ride aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft set to deliver additional science, crew supplies, and hardware for the company’s 30th commercial resupply services mission for NASA. Liftoff is targeted for 4:55 p.m. EDT Thursday, March 21, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
First Cornhusker State CubeSat
The first CubeSat from Nebraska is the Big Red Sat-1, which aims to investigate and improve the power production ability of solar cells. It is built by a team of middle and high school students mentored by University of Nebraska-Lincoln undergraduate engineering students.
The satellite measuring 1U, or one unit, (about four inches cubed), will test out Perovskite cells, a new type of solar cell designed to enhance power production with and without direct exposure to sunlight. The team will compare the power production to that of typical cells, called gallium arsenide solar cells, also flying on the CubeSat.
Detecting Gamma Ray Bursts
BurstCube is a NASA-developed 6U CubeSat designed to search the sky for brief flashes of high-energy light such as gamma-ray bursts, solar flares, and other hard X-ray transients.
Long and short gamma ray bursts are stellar remnants that can be the result of some of the universe’s most powerful explosions like the collapse or collision of massive stars, or when a neutron star collides with a black hole. BurstCube will use a new kind of compact, low-power silicon photomultiplier array to detect the elusive bursts of light.
With the ability to detect these brief flashes from space, BurstCube can help alert other observatories to witness changes in the universe as they happen. Astronomers can also benefit from the information because these bursts are important sources for gravitational wave discoveries.
Rooting Out Earth Water Sources from Space
The SigNals of Opportunity P-band Investigation, or SNoOPI, is a technology demonstration CubeSat designed to improve the detection of moisture levels on a global scale of underground root-zone and within snowpacks.
Root zone soil moisture and snow water equivalent play critical roles in the hydrologic cycle, impacting agricultural food production, water management, and weather phenomena. When scientists understand the amount of water in the soil, crop growth can be accurately forecasted, and irrigation can become more efficient.
The 6U CubeSat is collaboratively developed by NASA, Purdue University in Indiana, Mississippi State University, and the United States Department of Agriculture.
The fourth in the suite of small satellites, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s HyTI (Hyperspectral Thermal Imager) is also a 6U CubeSat designed to study water sources.
Developed in partnership with NASA to map irrigated and rainfed cropland, HyTI is a pathfinder demonstration that packs the Hyperspectral Imager Instrument, temporal resolution thermal infrared imager focal plane technology, and high-performance onboard computing to help better understand crop water use and water productivity of major world crops.
With these tools, HyTI can help develop a more detailed understanding of the movement, distribution, and availability of water and its variability over time and space, an important contribution to global food and water security issues.
These payloads were selected through NASA’s CSLI, which provides U.S. educational institutions, nonprofits with an education/outreach component, informal educational institutions (museums and science centers), and NASA centers with access to space at a low cost.
Once the CubeSat selections are made, NASA’s Launch Services Program works to pair them with a launch that is best suited to carry them as auxiliary payloads.
