Pending real-time updates during today’s countdown, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast remains 60 percent favorable for the liftoff of Orbital ATK’s S.S. Deke Slayton II Cygnus spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 5:55:45 p.m. EST. NASA Television launch coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. This is the company’s fourth scheduled cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.
A launch today will result in the Cygnus spacecraft arriving at the space station on Sunday, Dec. 6. NASA crew members Kjell Lindgren and Scott Kelly will use the station’s Canadarm2 robotic arm to reach out and capture Cygnus at approximately 5:30 a.m. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and grapple of Cygnus will begin at 4 a.m. Cygnus will be the first cargo ship to be berthed to the Earth-facing port on the Unity module. Coverage of Cygnus’ installation will begin at 7:15 a.m.
If the launch does not occur on today, the next launch opportunity would be at 5:33 p.m. tomorrow, resulting in a grapple and berthing on Dec. 7. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Very exciting, will be able to watch launch. Thank you for the information and updates, very informative.