Welcome to Launch Day here on Florida’s Space Coast where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft stand pointed toward space! Launch is scheduled for 5:07:38 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A. Today’s launch window is instantaneous to put the Dragon and its 6,000 pounds of cargo on course to catch up to the International Space Station.
Weather remains the top concern for this afternoon, but the forecast has improved greatly to a 90 percent chance of acceptable conditions today at launch time.
The launch team is working through its standard processes to prep the rocket and spacecraft for liftoff, including loading refined kerosene fuel and liquid oxygen into the two stages of the Falcon 9 rocket.
We will provide updates to the countdown status through launch and the Falcon 9’s climb into orbit. Dragon, which is flying without a crew aboard, will deliver a host of science experiments plus equipment and crew supplies to the station. The research will be conducted by the crew aboard the space station by the astronauts of Expeditions 52 and 53.
NASA TV coverage of the countdown also is underway and can be viewed here on NASA’s Launch Blog, on television or streaming at www.nasa.gov/nasatv