At 7:25 a.m. EST, countdown clocks began ticking from the T-11 hour mark toward the launch of Orbital ATK CRS-4. A series of planned holds will result in 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. on Thursday. This is the company’s fourth scheduled cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.
There is a 60 percent chance for favorable launch weather at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. NASA Television NTV-2 is airing a NASA Social for the Orbital ATK CRS-4 mission. You can watch the social streaming at the bottom of this post.
At 10:15 a.m., NASA Television NTV-1 and NTV-3 will air an ISS Expedition 45 live event with the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, ISS Commander Scott Kelly and Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren of NASA.
NASA Television will provide live and streaming internet coverage of two news briefings from Kennedy Space Center. News media wanting to remotely participate in the news conferences should call the Kennedy Space Center newsroom at 321-867-2468.
At 1 p.m., an ISS Science, Research and Technology briefing will discuss science and research launching to the space station. Participants will be:
- Kirt Costello, deputy chief scientist, International Space Station Program Science Office, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
- Ken Shields, director of Operations and Education Outreach, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS)
- Brian Motil, principal investigator, Packed Bed Reactor Experiment (PBRE), NASA’s Glenn Research Center, Cleveland
- Talbot Jaeger, chief technology officer, NovaWurks, and principal investigator, NanoRacks-MicroSat-SIMPL (Satlet Initial-Mission Proofs and Lessons)
- Andrew Petro, program executive, Small Spacecraft Technology Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington
- Eleanor McCormack, principal, St. Thomas More Cathedral School, St. Thomas More (STM) Sat-1
At 2 p.m., the Prelaunch News conference will be held. Participants will be:
- Kirk Shireman, International Space Station Program manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
- Frank Culbertson, president, Space Systems Group, Orbital ATK
- Vernon Thorpe, program manager for NASA missions, United Launch Alliance
- Todd McNamara, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron