Fwd: Launch of SpaceX cargo mission slips to Dec. 19

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: December 11, 2014 at 7:48:46 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Launch of SpaceX cargo mission slips to Dec. 19

 

 

 

 

December 11, 2014

MEDIA ADVISORY M14-201

 

NASA, SpaceX Update Launch of Resupply Mission to the Space Station

The fifth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract now is scheduled to launch no earlier than 1:20 p.m. EST Friday, Dec. 19, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 12:15 p.m.

The change of launch date allows SpaceX to take extra time to ensure they do everything possible on the ground to prepare for a successful launch. Both the Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon spacecraft are in good health.

The prelaunch news conferences also have moved to Thursday, Dec. 18 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All briefings, which are subject to a change in time, will air live on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The first briefing of the day will air at noon and will provide up-to-date information about the launch. Participants for the prelaunch briefing will be:

• Mike Suffredini, NASA's ISS Program manager
• Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for Mission Assurance at SpaceX
• Kathy Winters with the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral  Air Force Station in Florida

The second briefing, now at 1:30 p.m., will cover some of the numerous science investigations headed to the space station. Participants for the science briefing will be:

• Julie Robinson, NASA's ISS Program chief scientist
• Michael Roberts, senior research pathway manager at the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, headquartered in Melbourne, Florida
• Cheryl Nickerson, Micro-5 principal investigator at Arizona State University
• Samuel Durrance, NR-SABOL principal investigator at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne

The final briefing, now at 3 p.m., will cover the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) Earth science instrument headed to the space station. Participants for this briefing will be:

• Julie Robinson, ISS Program chief scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston
• Colleen Hartman, deputy director for science at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
• Robert J. Swap, program scientist with the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Matthew McGill, CATS principal investigator at Goddard

An on-time launch on Dec. 19 will result in the Dragon spacecraft arriving at the space station on Sunday, Dec. 21. Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA will use the station's 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture it at approximately 6 a.m. Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency will support Wilmore as they operate from the station's cupola. NASA TV coverage of grapple will begin at 4:30 a.m. Coverage of Dragon's installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin 9 a.m.

For more information about media accreditation at Kennedy, contact Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov.

For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1FrjDEO

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

George Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

 

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Launch of SpaceX cargo mission slips to Dec. 19

December 11, 2014 by Stephen Clark

File photo of a Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket prepared for a previous SpaceX resupply mission. Credit: SpaceX

The launch of SpaceX's next resupply mission to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for no earlier than Dec. 19 to make sure the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship are ready for flight, NASA said Thursday.

The liftoff was set for Dec. 16, but officials ordered the three-day delay to allow SpaceX to "take extra time to ensure they do everything possible on the ground to prepare for a successful launch," NASA said in a statement.

NASA released no other details on the reason for the launch delay.

Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 19 is set for approximately 1:20 p.m. EST (1820 GMT), roughly the time when the space station's orbital path passes over SpaceX's Cape Canaveral launch pad.

NASA says SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will carry more than 3,700 pounds of scientific experiments, technology demonstrations and supplies to the space station. The cargo will support 256 research investigations slated to take place on the space station in the coming months.

If the SpaceX logistics flight blasts off Dec. 19, the automated Dragon cargo capsule will rendezvous with the space station Dec. 21.

SpaceX plans to recover the rocket's first stage on a specially-built landing barge stationed in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral. The rocket landing — described by SpaceX as an experiment — is aimed at helping the company achieve its goal of developing a reusable launcher.

The upcoming mission will be SpaceX's fifth operational cargo delivery flight to the complex. The Hawthorne, Calif.-based company has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to take up supplies and return equipment to Earth on a dozen missions through the end of 2016.

A NASA Earth observation sensor called the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System, or CATS, will fly to the space station in the Dragon spacecraft's unpressurized trunk section. The space station's robotics system will unload the instrument package for placement on on a mounting bracket outside the complex.

The CATS instrument hosts two high-repetition-rate lasers to measure the distribution of cloud and aerosol particles in Earth's atmosphere, helping scientists monitor and predict air quality, detect dust storms, volcanic eruptions and wildfires, and hone climate models.

The capsule will remain attached to the space station for more than four weeks before it departs and re-enters the atmosphere for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with several tons of research specimens and gear that can be refurbished and launched again.

© 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.

 

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