Category: Kennedy Space Center

COUNTDOWN (all times approximate)
Hour/Min/Sec   Events
– 00:38:00     SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
– 00:35:00     RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading begins
– 00:35:00     1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
– 00:16:00     2nd stage LOX loading begins
– 00:07:58     Dragon transitions to internal power
– 00:07:00     Falcon 9 begins pre-launch engine chill
– 00:01:00     Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
– 00:01:00     Propellant tanks pressurize for flight
– 00:00:45     SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
– 00:00:03     Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
– 00:00:00     Falcon 9 liftoff

LAUNCH AND DRAGON DEPLOYMENT
Hour/Min/Sec   Events
– 00:01:18     Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
– 00:02:18     1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
– 00:02:22     1st and 2nd stages separate
– 00:02:29     2nd stage engine starts
– 00:02:35     1st stage boostback burn begins
– 00:06:32     1st stage entry burn begins
– 00:08:17     1st stage landing
– 00:08:35     2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
– 00:09:35     Dragon separates from 2nd stage
– 00:12:02     Dragon’s solar arrays deploy
– 02:19:00     Dragon’s Guidance, Navigation and Control bay door opens

Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

The rocket awaiting launch late this evening is the SpaceX Falcon 9, a two-stage vehicle topped by the company’s uncrewed cargo Dragon spacecraft. This will be the Falcon 9 rocket’s second flight. It previously flew on CRS-19 in December 2019. It is the Dragon cargo spacecraft’s third trip to space, having flown previously in support of CRS-10 and CRS-16 missions. The Falcon 9 first stage is powered by nine Merlin engines that ignite at T-0. Its second stage has a single Merlin engine that takes over after separation of the first stage. Merlin engines, also built by SpaceX, run on a combination of cryogenic liquid oxygen and a refined kerosene fuel called RP-1.

Installed atop the rocket, the Dragon cargo spacecraft will deliver about 4,500 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the International Space Station. The Dragon offers a pressurized section as well as an unpressurized “trunk” section for additional cargo. Also located in the trunk are the spacecraft’s power-producing solar arrays, which will open shortly after Dragon arrives in orbit.

This is SpaceX’s 20th and final contract resupply mission under the first Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA. It is also the last SpaceX CRS mission to use the Dragon 1 vehicle. Future missions under the CRS-2 contract will utilize the Dragon 2 spacecraft and will return to Earth with a water landing in the Atlantic Ocean.

Read more about the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon spacecraft.

Liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo spacecraft is targeted for 11:50 p.m. EST this evening. Countdown activities are in progress at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, where the rocket awaits launch on the company’s 20th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station.

CRS-20 is the second U.S. resupply mission to the space station this year, and the first resupply mission for SpaceX this year.

Be sure to join us here on the blog and on NASA Television beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST for updates from the countdown. Learn more about the SpaceX CRS-20 mission by going to the mission home page at http://www.nasa.gov/spacex.

A prelaunch news conference for SpaceX’s 20th Commercial Resupply Services mission for NASA to the International Space Station is set for 4 p.m. EST today.

Participants include:

• Joel Montalbano, manager for International Space Station Program
• Jennifer Buchli, deputy chief scientist for International Space Station Program
• Hans Koenigsmann, vice president, Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX
• Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Space Wing, U.S. Air Force

Watch the news conference on NASA Television.

NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting 11:50 p.m. EST tonight, March 6, for the launch of resupply mission to the space station.

Follow the launch countdown tonight beginning at 11:30 p.m. on NASA TV and the launch blog. To learn more about the SpaceX CRS-20 mission, visit the mission homepage at http://www.nasa.gov/spacex.

A briefing about the science payloads for delivery on the SpaceX CRS-20 mission to the International Space Station is set for today at 3 p.m. Tune in to NASA Television. Participants include:

• Jennifer Buchli, deputy chief scientist for NASA’s International Space Station Program Science Office, who will share an overview of the research being conducted aboard the space station and how it benefits exploration and humanity.
• Michael Roberts, interim chief scientist for the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory, who will discuss the lab’s work in advancing science in space, and in developing partnerships that drive industrialization through microgravity research.
• Bill Corely, director of business development for Airbus Defence and Space, and Bartolomeo Project Manager Andreas Schutte, who will discuss Bartolomeo, a new commercial research platform from ESA (European Space Agency), set to be installed on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory.
• Chunhui Xu, associate professor of Emory University School of Medicine, and principle investigator for the Generation of Cardiomyocytes from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (MVP Cell-03) experiment, who will discuss the study on the generation of specialized heart muscle cells for use in research and clinical applications.
• Paul Patton, senior manager, front end innovation and regulatory for Delta Faucet, and Garry Marty, principal product engineer for Delta Faucet, who will discuss the Droplet Formation Study, which evaluates water droplet formation and water flow of Delta Faucet’s H2Okinetic showerhead technology. This research in microgravity could help improve technology, creating better performance and improved user experience while conserving water and energy.
• Aaron Beeler, professor of medicinal chemistry at Boston University, and principal investigator, and co-investigator Matthew Mailloux of Flow Chemistry Platform for Synthetic Reactions on ISS, which will study the effects of microgravity on chemical reactions, as a first step toward on-demand chemical synthesis on the space station.

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing predict a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for the company’s 20th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for Friday, March 6 at 11:50 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Skies will clear through the day Friday, and winds will become gusty out of the north as a high-pressure area moves east. The primary weather concern for launch is liftoff winds with the tight pressure gradient behind the front.

SpaceX is now targeting March 6 at 11:50 p.m. EST for launch of its 20th commercial resupply services mission (CRS-20) to the International Space Station. During standard preflight inspections, SpaceX identified a valve motor on the second stage engine behaving not as expected and determined the safest and most expedient path to launch is to utilize the next second stage in line that was already at the Cape and ready for flight. The new second stage has already completed the same preflight inspections with all hardware behaving as expected. The updated target launch date provides the time required to complete preflight integration and final checkouts.

The cargo Dragon will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying more than 5,600 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the station, including research on particle foam manufacturing, water droplet formation, the human intestine and other cutting-edge investigations.

Learn more about space station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

SpaceX is preparing for the second launch attempt of its 19th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) mission to the International Space Station today at 12:29 p.m. EST. The company’s Falcon 9 rocket and uncrewed Dragon spacecraft will lift off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

SpaceX made the decision to call off the first launch attempt yesterday due to upper-altitude winds and high winds at sea, creating dangerous conditions around the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You,” which the rocket’s first stage will attempt landing on following its separation from the rest of the launch vehicle.

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting an 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for today’s launch. Join us here on the blog, as well as on NASA TV and the agency’s website, for live launch countdown coverage, beginning at 12 p.m. EST.

The Dragon spacecraft that will deliver critical supplies, equipment and material to the space station on this mission first flew to the orbiting laboratory in 2014 on CRS-4, and then again on CRS-11, making it the first spacecraft that SpaceX reused for resupply missions. Now preparing to fly for a third time, the material it will carry on CRS-19 will directly support dozens of research investigations taking place in space. To learn more about some of those research experiments, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/spx19-research/

This afternoon’s launch attempt has been scrubbed due to winds. The next launch opportunity will be at 12:29 p.m. EST on Thursday, Dec. 5. Launch coverage for the SpaceX CRS-19 mission to the International Space Station will begin at 12 p.m. EST on NASA Television and the agency’s website. A launch of the SpaceX cargo Dragon spacecraft on Thursday will result in its arrival at the space station on Sunday, Dec. 8.

SpaceX’s 19th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-19) mission is set to launch at 12:51 p.m. EST today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The company’s uncrewed Dragon spacecraft – launching aboard a Falcon 9 rocket – will deliver research, supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

Weather officials continue to predict a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for launch. Beginning at 12:30 p.m., join us here on the blog for live coverage, and follow along on NASA TV or the agency’s website for the live launch broadcast.

Here’s a look at today’s countdown and ascent milestones. All times are approximate:

COUNTDOWN
Hour/Min/Sec – Events
-00:38:00 – SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
-00:35:00 – RP-1 (rocket-grade kerosene) loading begins
-00:35:00 – 1st stage LOX (liquid oxygen) loading begins
-00:16:00 – 2nd stage LOX loading begins
-00:07:58 – Dragon transitions to internal power
-00:01:00 – Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
-00:01:00 – Propellant tanks pressurize for flight
-00:00:45 – SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
-00:00:03 – Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
-00:00:00 – Falcon 9 liftoff

LAUNCH, LANDING AND DRAGON DEPLOYMENT
Hour/Min/Sec – Event
00:01:18 – Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:31 – 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:34 – 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:42 – 2nd stage engine starts
00:02:47 – 1st stage boostback burn begins
00:06:11 – 1st stage entry burn begins
00:07:48 – 1st stage landing
00:08:35 – 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
00:09:35 – Dragon separates from 2nd stage
00:12:02 – Dragon’s solar arrays deploy
02:19:00 – Dragon’s Guidance, Navigation and Control bay door opens