July 2016 – Page 4

Launch Timeline

The CRS-9 mission is scheduled to liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:45 EDT on Monday. The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft is loaded with about 5,000 pounds of experiments and supplies including a 1,020-pound international docking adapter. Here is how the countdown will progress toward liftoff. For more details, the CRS-9 Press Kit is now available.

Mission Timeline (all times approximate)
T- 38 minutes: Launch Conductor takes launch readiness poll
T- 35: RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) loading underway
T- 7: Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch/Dragon to internal power
T-2: Range Control Officer (USAF) verifies range is go for launch
T- 01:30: SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
T-:01: Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks/Pressurize propellant tanks
T-3 seconds: Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
T0: Falcon 9 liftoff
T+01:08: Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
T+02:21: 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
T+02:24: 1st and 2nd stages separate
T+02:32: 2nd stage engine starts
T+02:42: 1st stage boostback burn begins
T+06:31: 1st stage entry burn begins
T+07:38: 1st stage landing burn begins
T+09:02: 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
T+09:37: Dragon separates from 2nd stage
T+11 minutes: Dragon’s solar arrays deploy
T+2 hours, 19 minutes: Dragon’s Guidance, Navigation and Control bay door opens

Pre-Launch Press Briefing at 2 P.M.

Join us in 30 minutes on NASA TV and at www.nasa.gov/ntv for the CRS-9 pre-launch press conference from the Press Site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Participants will be:

Joel Montalbano, ISS deputy program manager for Utilization, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Julie Robinson, chief ISS Program scientist, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of Flight Reliability, SpaceX
Capt. Laura Godoy, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron

Liftoff is set for 12:45 a.m. EDT on Monday for the cargo resupply mission that will carry about 5,000 pounds of materials to the International Space Station. For more details about the mission, you can look over the press kit at https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spacex_crs9_press_kit.pdf

CRS-9 Press Kit Now Available

Catch up on all the details of the CRS-9 mission in the Press Kit for the mission. The ninth cargo resupply mission by SpaceX for NASA will see the company’s Falcon 9 rocket lift a Dragon spacecraft into orbit carrying about 5,000 pounds of supplies, equipment and experiments along with International Docking Adapter-2. Launch is set for 12:45 a.m. EDT on Monday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Forecast Remains 90 Percent ‘Go’ for Monday Morning Launch

There is a 90 percent chance that weather conditions will be acceptable for the launch early Monday morning of a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying cargo to the International Space Station, Air Force meteorologists with the 45th Space Wing report. The only concerns are for Cumulus clouds building up and a chance of precipitation.

Forecast: 90 Percent ‘Go’

Weather forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron predict a 90 percent chance of favorable weather at the scheduled time for launch of SpaceX CRS-9. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is targeted for 12:45 a.m. EDT Monday, July 18, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. This is the company’s ninth scheduled cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. If the launch does not occur Monday, July 18, the next launch opportunity is 12 a.m. Wednesday, July 20, with NASA TV coverage starting at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 19.

Our continuous countdown and launch coverage on the Launch Blog and on NASA Television will begin at 11:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17. A Monday launch will result in the Dragon arriving at the space station Wednesday, July 20. NASA astronaut Jeff Williams will use the station’s 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture the Dragon spacecraft as he operates from the station’s cupola. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will serve as the backup. Ground commands will be sent from Houston for the station’s arm to install Dragon on the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module. By the next day, the crew will pressurize the vestibule between the station and Dragon, and then open the hatch that leads to the forward bulkhead of Dragon. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture July 20 will begin at 5:30 a.m. on NASA TV, with installation coverage set to begin at 9:45 a.m.

SpaceX CRS-9 is scheduled to deliver nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies and payloads to the station, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 48 and 49.

In addition to launch coverage, NASA TV will air a prelaunch news conference at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 16, and a “What’s On Board” science briefing at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 17. A post-launch briefing will be held at about 2 a.m. Monday. All briefings will air live on NASA TV and via streaming video on the agency’s website.

Prelaunch Briefings and Launch Day Details

SpaceX is scheduled to launch its ninth Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station Monday, July 18. Our continuous countdown coverage here on the Launch Blog and NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 11:30 p.m. EDT, Sunday, July 17.

The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is targeting liftoff on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket at 12:44 a.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 48 and 49 crew members. You can read more details about the International Docking Adapter, pictured, that will be carried into orbit during the mission here.

As part of prelaunch activities, NASA TV will air a prelaunch briefing conducted by mission managers on Saturday, July 16, at 2 p.m. The briefing also will stream live on the agency’s website at www.nasa.gov/ntv.

About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit, deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station. SpaceX also is planning to attempt to land its Falcon 9 first stage on land.

After a two-day trip, NASA astronaut Jeff Williams will use the station’s 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture the Dragon spacecraft as he operates from the station’s cupola. NASA astronaut Kate Rubins will serve as the backup. Ground commands will be sent from Houston for the station’s arm to install Dragon on the Earth-facing side of the station’s Harmony module for its stay at the space station. By the next day, the crew will pressurize the vestibule between the station and Dragon, and then open the hatch that leads to the forward bulkhead of Dragon.

Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture July 20 will begin at 5:30 a.m. on NASA TV, with installation set to begin at 9:45 a.m.

During the next five weeks, crew members will unload the spacecraft and reload it with cargo to return to Earth. About five-and-a-half hours after it departs the station Aug. 29, it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.

If the launch does not occur Monday, July 18, the next launch opportunity is midnight Wednesday, July 20, with NASA TV coverage starting at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 19. For more details about the briefings ahead of launch, go to http://go.nasa.gov/29SQAVQ

New Photos of IDA-2 Loading into Dragon

SpaceX provided these photos of engineers and technicians loading the International Docking Adapter into the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft for launch to the International Space Station. Known as IDA-2, the docking ring is tailored to the international docking standard for future human-rated spacecraft and is outfitted with sensors and instruments designed to accommodate new spacecraft carrying astronauts to the orbiting laboratory. There is a lot more to the IDA story and you can read about it here: http://go.nasa.gov/2a9xpTN

SpaceX CRS-9 Carrying Crucial Port to Station

The CRS-9 mission slated to launch Monday morning at 12:45 EDT will carry an International Docking Adapter that will provide a vital link between the International Space Station and the new spacecraft in development with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Big enough for astronauts to float through, the segment is outfitted with sensors and devices that are designed to allow arriving spacecraft to dock automatically without astronauts steering them in themselves. Spacewalkers will position the docking ring on the end of the station where it will be in place for the first flight tests by the new generation of human-rated spacecraft. Read more details: http://go.nasa.gov/2a9xpTN