SpaceX Readies Rocket for Saturday Launch

Samantha Cristoforetti
Samantha Cristoforetti
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti works with the bowling ball sized satellites, known as SPHERES, inside Japan’s Kibo laboratory. Credit: NASA TV

SpaceX engineers swapped out a suspect thrust vector control actuator in the second stage of their Falcon 9 rocket that halted Tuesday’ s launch of its Dragon commercial cargo craft. Dragon’s launch atop the Falcon 9 is now set for Saturday at 4:47 a.m. EST with live NASA Television coverage scheduled to begin at 3:30 a.m.

› Read more about Saturday’s launch and television coverage
› Read more about the SpaceX CRS-5 mission

Thursday’s Expedition 42 science highlights included a pair of advanced remote control experiments inside the International Space Station. One experiment is studying the feasibility of controlling robots on the ground from space with a crew member using an advanced joystick that provides haptic feedback. The other uses bowling ball sized satellites, known as SPHERES, programmed by competing teams of high school students to accomplish tasks relevant to future space missions.

› Read more about the Haptics-1 experiment
› Read more about the SPHERES-Zero-Robotics competition

Another experiment is researching acoustic methods for locating punctures on the outside of the space station caused by human activity or micrometeoroid impacts. Crew members also studied the plasma environment in the station and photographed the ongoing man-made and natural changes to the Earth’s surface.

2 thoughts on “SpaceX Readies Rocket for Saturday Launch”

  1. Eu estou na torcida para que tudo de certo. Tudo seja fácil…! Desejo que á missão de vocês seja que – nem mamão com açúcar…

  2. merci pou votre lien .bien coordonner la relater est une croatie de soi ,,,,13 février 73 pirw 14 11 m 7l et 13 35 onz 44, merci jetante de vos nouvelle,xxxx

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