SpaceX

NASA TV and continuous coverage of the countdown here on the NASA Launch Blog will begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday as we move toward the launch of the SpaceX CRS-11 mission to carry almost 6,000 pounds of experiments, equipment and crew supplies to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:07 p.m. from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Poor weather on the Space Coast this afternoon has prompted the launch team to scrub today’s launch attempt. The launch team is resetting for a liftoff Saturday, June 3, at 5:07:26 p.m. EDT. The forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions for the Saturday opportunity.

The CRS-11 mission will be the 100th mission to lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pad, seen above during a previous SpaceX liftoff, has seen the beginning of many of NASA’s landmark missions, including Apollo 11’s mission to first land astronauts on the moon. The first space shuttle mission also started at LC-39A, as did 81 other shuttle missions. SpaceX has launched five Falcon 9 missions from the pad complex after modifying it from shuttle needs to Falcon 9 infrastructure.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft have taken their positions ahead of this afternoon’s launch from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:55:53 p.m. eastern time. Our continuous countdown coverage will begin here on NASA’s Launch Blog and on NASA TV at 5:15 p.m. You can watch the NASA TV stream on the blog or streaming at  www.nasa.gov/nasatv

The forecast continues to call for a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time. The primary concerns are clouds building up late in the afternoon.

The mission, which carries no crew, is the 11th cargo flight to the International Space Station for SpaceX. Inside Dragon are about 6,000 pounds of research and equipment, supplies for the station’s resident crew and other hardware necessary for the operation of the orbiting laboratory.

For a more detailed look at the mission at some of its scientific payloads, see our mission preview at https://go.nasa.gov/2qG4NYO Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

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The chance of anvil and cumulus clouds developing Thursday afternoon around launch time has Air Force meteorologists predicting a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions for the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on a supply mission to the International Space Station. Launch is targeted for 5:55 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The forecast for a Friday launch calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions. SpaceX conducted a static test firing of the Falcon 9 rocket, shown above, on Sunday. The detailed forecast is below.

This will be the 100th launch from LC-39A, which was the starting point for Apollo 11’s landmark mission to the moon, the first space shuttle mission and five previous SpaceX flights.

The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft will be loaded with almost 6,000 pounds of science research, crew supplies and hardware for the orbiting laboratory in support of Expedition 52 and 53 crew members. The unpressurized trunk of the spacecraft also will transport solar panels, tools for Earth-observation and equipment to study neutron stars.  Known as CRS-11, this mission will be the eleventh for SpaceX under the company’s contract with NASA.

Forecast details: Moisture has begun to build in aloft today, signaling the start of Central Florida’s convective season. The storms will be guided by the orientation of the Bermuda Ridge axis, which is forecast to gradually shift north of the Spaceport over the next few days. A few storms may develop along the Space Coast today, and the storms will be more widespread on Wednesday as moisture continues to increase aloft. On launch day, the Bermuda Ridge axis is forecast to be north of the area, helping to steer most storms that develop inland, away from the Spaceport. Upper-level winds remain out of the northwest however, which will bring anvil clouds from inland storms back east. The primary concerns will be anvil & cumulus clouds. Max upper-level winds will be northwest at 100 kts at 45,000 ft.

On Friday, similar conditions are expected with an inland push to the storms via the steering winds. The steering direction begins to change on Saturday, increasing the probability that storms will remain along the Space Coast. The main concerns Saturday are anvil clouds, cumulus clouds, and flight through precipitation. Maximum upper-level winds will be from the northwest at 90 knots near 45,000 feet.

Major experiments that will look into a range of scientific disciplines from human health to atmospheric conditions on Earth are on their way to the International Space Station following liftoff at 9:39 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. About 5,500 pounds of research equipment, cargo and supplies are packed into the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft that is now in Earth orbit and headed to the station on the CRS-10 mission.

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was the first commercial launch from Kennedy’s historic pad.

Astronauts Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency and Shane Kimbrough of NASA will use the space station’s robotic arm to capture Dragon when it arrives at the station. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 on NASA TV and the agency’s website, with installation coverage set to begin at 8:30 a.m.

Research materials flying inside the Dragon’s pressurized area include a crystal growth experiment that will crystallize a monoclonal antibody that is undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of immunological diseases. Growing the crystal in space will allow it develop more than it could on Earth where gravity causes crystals to collapse on themselves. Preserving these antibodies in crystals allows researchers a glimpse into how the biological molecules are arranged, which can provide new information about how they work in the body. So far, Earth-grown crystalline suspensions of monoclonal antibodies have proven to be too low-quality to fully model.

Better defining how some bacteria become drug-resistant is the focus of another experiment that aims to develop medicines that counter the resistance. Stem cells like those used to treat strokes and other occurrences also will be studied using experiment supplies brought up on this flight.

The equipment aboard the Dragon includes a major instrument that will survey Earth’s upper atmosphere in a continuation of one of NASA’s longest-running Earth-observing programs. Called SAGE III for Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, the instrument examines the levels of ozone, aerosols, nitrogen dioxide and water vapor in the stratosphere and troposphere high above Earth. It is the latest version of an experiment that began in 1979 and has created a multi-decade record of measurements. The 2,200-pound instrument will be connected to the outside of the station to make daily observations for several years.

The mission is the company’s tenth cargo flight to the station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract. Dragon’s cargo will support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations during the station’s Expeditions 50 and 51.

Dragon is scheduled to depart the space station in late March, returning nearly 5,000 pounds of science, hardware and crew supplies.

NASA, SpaceX and Federal Aviation Administration officials will conduct a news conference at 11:30 a.m. EST marking today’s successful launch of the SpaceX CRS-10 mission to the International Space Station. The Dragon spacecraft and its 5,500 pounds of equipment are safely in orbit in pursuit of the station. You can watch the news conference on NASA TV or in the live stream below. News conference participants are:

• George Diller, NASA Communications
• William Spetch, Deputy Manager, Transportation Office, ISS
• Jessica Jensen, Dragon mission manager, SpaceX
• Pam Underwood, Manager, Operations Integration Division, FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation