SpaceX Tries Again Today for CRS-19 Launch
martyb writes:
SpaceX scrubbed yesterday's scheduled launch attempt for CRS-19 (Commercial Resupply Mission) to the ISS (International Space Station) because of concerns about upper altitude winds.
The backup launch window is scheduled for four hours from the time of this story today, at 12:29pm ET (17:29 UTC). Conditions look favorable with a forecast of 80% favorable winds.
Ars Technica notes:
[...] Typically, the newest variant of the Falcon 9 rocket has enough lift capacity to loft the Dragon spacecraft into orbit before using its remaining fuel to steer it back to a landing site on the Florida coast.
In this case, however, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage is slated to land on the Of Course I Still Love You drone ship more than 100 miles offshore. Asked about this, SpaceX's director of Dragon mission management, Jessica Jensen, said Tuesday that the rocket's upper stage is slated to fly a "thermal demonstration" for another, unnamed customer. To put this second stage into the proper orbit for this demonstration, the first stage will need to burn longer and will not have the fuel needed to return to the coast.
There are two SpaceX YouTube streams for this mission: CRS-19 Mission Control Audio and the audio+video CRS-19 Mission. SpaceX streams typically start approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled launch time.
Also available on YouTube is the NASA Live: Official Stream of NASA TV.
For last-minute developments, keep an eye on the SpaceX Twitter feed.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.