SpaceX heads for the ISS Saturday

[D. Gale]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private spacecraft stands ready to launch on a historic first visit to the International Space Station tomorrow (May 19).

The unmanned Dragon space capsule, built by commercial firm SpaceX, is slated to lift off atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket early Saturday from here at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft has an instantaneous launch window at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT), with a 70 percent chance of good weather predicted (the main risk of a delay is posed by the possibility of cumulus clouds).

If all goes well, Dragon will fly by the space station on Monday (May 21) and rendezvous and berth at the outpost the day after, becoming the first non-governmental vehicle to do so. The mission is the final test flight planned for Dragon, which has been developed under NASA's COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) program aimed at nurturing private spacecraft to supply the International Space Station.

More at http://news.yahoo.com/private-rocket...114159018.html

[Potemkin]

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station not Kennedy Space Center?

Interesting.

[D. Gale]

Possible engine problem delays U.S. rocket launch

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The launch of a privately owned Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was delayed on Saturday when a computer detected a possible problem with one of the rocket's engines, a Space Exploration Technologies official said.

Preparations for the company's trial cargo run to the International Space Station proceeded smoothly until 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 GMT) when an onboard computer aborted the launch.

"Liftoff ... we've had a cutoff. Liftoff did not occur," said NASA launch commentator George Diller, caught off guard by the sudden, last-minute turn of events.

A computer monitoring the rocket's nine engines detected a climbing pressure reading in one engine's chambers and halted the launch 0.5 seconds before liftoff, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell told reporters.

More at http://news.yahoo.com/possible-engin...1--sector.html

[Auburn Boy]

Stand back..,

Open the chamber..,

Eject the MISSFIRE after five minutes.

[Catbird]

It's up and away at 3:44AM EDT.

In addition to its' cargo for the ISS, it's also carrying ashes from over 300 people, including Scotty and Mercury/Gemini astronaut Gordon Cooper.

"Celebrities' Ashes Launched on SpaceX Falcon Rocket"

[Potemkin]

100 years from now people will look back and mark this date as the day space operations was yanked from the hands of government.

Go man, go!

Let's embarrass the government space agencies.

[CanadaSue]

Beautiful launch - I caught it about 3 seconds before liftoff.

I wasn't aware all those ashes were going up - fitting.

[Sonny]

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Soars on 2nd Try

...
Many more milestones will need to be met before NASA clears Dragon to approach the space station for berthing. If all goes as planned, space station flight engineer Don Pettit is expected to use the station’s robotic crane to pluck Dragon from orbit on Friday and attach it to a docking port.

The capsule is carrying about 1,200 pounds of food, water, clothes and supplies for the station crew. It is scheduled to bring back about 1,300 pounds of gear when it returns to Earth on May 31.
...

Falcon 9 From Wikipedia

The Falcon 9 first stage is powered by nine SpaceX Merlin 1C rocket engines
with 556 kN (125,000 lbf) sea-level thrust per engine for a total thrust on
liftoff of about 5.0 MN (1.1 million lbf).[8] The Falcon 9 first stage uses a
pyrophoric mixture of triethylaluminum-triethylborane (TEA-TEB) ignitor [9]
Merlin uses RP-1 kerosene and liquid oxygen as propellants in a gas-generator
power cycle. The Merlin engine is designed for sea recovery and reuse.


-----
The Dragon space capsule From Wikipedia

The Dragon is planned to be able to carry up to seven astronauts, or a
mixture of personnel and cargo, to and from low Earth orbit. The Dragon's
heat shield is designed to withstand re-entry velocities from potential
Lunar and Martian spaceflights.[9]


click image for 3X larger...

[Catbird]

Tomorrow is the big day.

"Private spacecraft prepares for historic link to space station"

"A private spacecraft has maneuvered closer to the International Space Station in preparation for what would be a historic rendezvous Friday, the company behind the project announced.

The unmanned SpaceX Dragon that launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, has successfully completed all tests so far in preparation for the attempt to be the first private spacecraft to link to the space station, a SpaceX statement said Thursday.

If all goes well, the Dragon capsule carrying food, clothing and scientific experiments would connect to the space station's robotic arm around 9 a.m. ET Friday, according to the company."

[CanadaSue]

Up early - & caught on the news that 'capture' is scheduled to commence at 0759. I MAY have gotten the time wrong but it was repeated three times.

I know the Canadian networks are covering it live & no doubt CNN & other networks will catch the big moments live as well.

[Potemkin]

All those farking cable channels and the only one carrying it live is the NASA Channel. (Comcast, about 600 channels)

[Catbird]

via NASA Twitter:

"NASA
@SpaceX #Dragon resumes approach to #ISS toward 30m hold point. Based on lighting, grapple estimated 10:40amET."

Live online at: NASA TV online

[Catbird]

via Twitter:
"International Space Station crew snares SpaceX Dragon capsule from orbit - @NASA"


Comment from crew on ISS:
"We've got a Dragon by the tail".

[Sonny]

I thought it was very 'tacky' of the Russians to charge US for flying our astronauts on their Soyuz to the ISS after we ended the Space Shuttle Flights. Very Tacky Boris !

[CanadaSue]

Maybe the US can charge Russian astronauts room & board for time spent on the ISS.

[Potemkin]

There you go. Libertarians rejoice.

[Sonny]

SpaceX Dragon Drop Test image

interesting that the parachutes seem to deploy from an area at the bottom of the capsule
rather than at the top.

[CanadaSue]

Excellent!