Expedition 63 Waits for Weekend Arrival of SpaceX Crew

ISS - Expedition 63 Mission patch.

May 28, 2020

The Expedition 63 crew will wait a few more days to gain two new crewmembers after weather scrubbed the initial launch attempt of the SpaceX Crew Dragon. Meanwhile, the orbiting trio aboard the International Space Station continued focusing on lab operations.

Rain and lightning around Kennedy Space Center kept Commercial Crew members Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the ground Wednesday. The Florida weather violated launch rules and SpaceX scrubbed the liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket with the two NASA astronauts atop sitting inside the Crew Dragon vehicle.

Image above: The sun’s rays glisten in this photograph from an external high definition camera as the International Space Station orbited over the Atlantic Ocean southwest of South Africa. Image Credit: NASA.

NASA has rescheduled the Crew Dragon launch for Saturday at 3:22 p.m. EDT with a backup launch date on Sunday at 3 p.m. If Hurley and Behnken launch Saturday, they would dock Sunday at 10:29 a.m. to the Harmony module’s International Docking Adapter.

Back on orbit, NASA Commander Chris Cassidy was setting up Japanese network communications gear and science hardware during the morning. Afterward, the veteran astronaut spent the rest of Thursday exploring how planetary bodies might affect the density and dynamics of different materials.

International Space Station (ISS). Animation Credit: NASA

The Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner started the day transferring cargo to and from the Soyuz crew ship and the two Progress space freighters. The duo then turned its attention to videotaping and photographing their station activities for an Earth audience.

Related article:

Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Rescheduled for Saturday, May 30
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/launch-of-nasas-spacex-demo-2.html

Related links:

Expedition 63: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition63/index.html

Harmony module: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/structure/elements/harmony

Density and dynamics: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/explorer/Investigation.html?#id=7962

Space Station Research and Technology: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/overview.html

International Space Station (ISS): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Image (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Mark Garcia.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s AIM Spots First Arctic Noctilucent Clouds of the Season

NASA - Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) patch.

May 28, 2020

Ice-blue clouds are drifting high above the Arctic, which means the Northern Hemisphere’s noctilucent cloud season is here. 

Animation above: These animated images show AIM’s observations from the first week of the Arctic noctilucent cloud season, which began on May 17, 2020. The colors — from dark blue to light blue and bright white — indicate the clouds’ albedo, which refers to the amount of light that a surface reflects compared to the total sunlight that falls upon it. Things that have a high albedo are bright and reflect a lot of light. Things that don’t reflect much light have a low albedo; they are dark. Animation Credits: NASA/HU/VT/CU-LASP/AIM/Joy Ng.

NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere spacecraft — AIM for short — first spotted wisps of these noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds over the Arctic on May 17. In the week that followed, the ghost-like wisps grew into a blur, quickly filling more of the Arctic sky. This is the second-earliest start of the northern season yet observed, and the season is expected to run through mid-August.

The seasonal clouds hover high above the ground, about 50 miles overhead in a layer of the atmosphere called the mesosphere. Most meteors burn up when they reach the mesosphere; there are enough gases there to slough plummeting meteors into nothing more than dust and smoke. Noctilucent clouds form when water molecules congregate around the fine dust and freeze, forming ice crystals. The icy clouds, reflecting sunlight, shine bright blue and white. They first appear in summer — around mid-May in the Northern Hemisphere and mid-November in the Southern — when the mesosphere is most humid, with the season’s heat lofting moisture up to the sky.

“Every year, twice a year, the start of the season is a big event for us,” said Jim Russell, AIM principal investigator at Hampton University in Virginia. “The reason we’re excited is we’re trying to find out what the causes of the season’s starting are and what does it really mean with regard to the larger picture in the atmosphere.”

Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere or AIM spacecraft

Also known as polar mesospheric clouds (because they tend to huddle around Earth’s poles), these clouds help scientists better understand the mesosphere and how it’s connected to the rest of the atmosphere, weather and climate.

Scientists are eager to see what this Arctic season brings. For the most part, the brilliant clouds usually cling to the polar regions. But sometimes, they stray south. Last year, they were spotted as far south as southern California and Oklahoma — lower latitudes than have ever been seen before, Russell said. The new season is another chance to better understand the fleeting clouds and their possible migration south. Some evidence indicates this could be the result of changing atmospheric conditions.

“With every year, we get new data to help us put together a picture of the atmosphere,” Russell said.

Launched in 2007, AIM is a NASA-funded mission managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The mission is led by the AIM principal investigator from the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Hampton University.

Related links:

AIM (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere): https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aim/index.html

Center for Atmospheric Sciences: http://cas.hamptonu.edu/

Goddard Space Flight Center: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html

Animation (mentioned), Image, Text, Credits: NASA/GSFC/Lina Tran.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Hubble Finds that "Distance" From the Brightest Stars is Key to Preserving Primordial Discs

ESA - Hubble Space Telescope logo.

28 May 2020

The star cluster Westerlund 2

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was used to conduct a three-year study of the crowded, massive and young star cluster Westerlund 2. The research found that the material encircling stars near the cluster’s centre is mysteriously devoid of the large, dense clouds of dust that would be expected to become planets in a few million years. Their absence is caused by the cluster’s most massive and brightest stars that erode and disperse the discs of gas and dust of neighbouring stars. This is the first time that astronomers have analysed an extremely dense star cluster to study which environments are favourable to planet formation.

This time-domain study from 2016 to 2019 sought to investigate the properties of stars during their early evolutionary phases and to trace the evolution of their circumstellar environments [1]. Such studies had previously been confined to the nearest, low-density, star-forming regions. Astronomers have now used the Hubble Space Telescope to extend this research to the centre of one of the few young massive clusters in the Milky Way, Westerlund 2, for the first time.

Westerlund 2 — Hubble’s 25th anniversary image

Astronomers have now found that planets have a tough time forming in this central region of the cluster. The observations also reveal that stars on the cluster’s periphery do have immense planet-forming dust clouds embedded in their discs. To explain why some stars in Westerlund 2 have a difficult time forming planets while others do not, researchers suggest this is largely due to location. The most massive and brightest stars in the cluster congregate in the core. Westerlund 2 contains at least 37 extremely massive stars, some weighing up to 100 solar masses. Their blistering ultraviolet radiation and hurricane-like stellar winds act like blowtorches and erode the discs around neighbouring stars, dispersing the giant dust clouds.

“Basically, if you have monster stars, their energy is going to alter the properties of the discs,” explained lead researcher Elena Sabbi, of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, USA. “You may still have a disc, but the stars change the composition of the dust in the discs, so it’s harder to create stable structures that will eventually lead to planets. We think the dust either evaporates away in 1 million years, or it changes in composition and size so dramatically that planets don’t have the building blocks to form.”

Wide-field image of Westerlund 2 (ground-based image)

Westerlund 2 is a unique laboratory in which to study stellar evolutionary processes because it’s relatively nearby, is quite young, and contains a rich stellar population. The cluster resides in a stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located roughly 14 000 light-years away in the constellation of Carina (The Ship’s Keel). The stellar nursery is difficult to observe because it is surrounded by dust, but Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 can peer through the dusty veil in near-infrared light, giving astronomers a clear view of the cluster. Hubble’s sharp vision was used to resolve and study the dense concentration of stars in the central cluster.

“With an age of less than about two million years, Westerlund 2 harbours some of the most massive, and hottest, young stars in the Milky Way,” said team member Danny Lennon of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the Universidad de La Laguna. “The ambient environment of this cluster is therefore constantly bombarded by strong stellar winds and ultraviolet radiation from these giants that have masses of up to 100 times that of the Sun.”

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

Sabbi and her team found that of the nearly 5000 stars in Westerlund 2 with masses between 0.1 and 5 times the Sun’s mass, 1500 of them show dramatic fluctuations in their luminosity, which is commonly accepted as being due to the presence of large dusty structures and planetesimals. Orbiting material would temporarily block some of the starlight, causing fluctuations in brightness. However, Hubble only detected the signature of dust particles around stars outside the central region. They did not detect these dips in brightness in stars residing within four light-years of the centre.

“We think they are planetesimals or structures in formation,” Sabbi explained. “These could be the seeds that eventually lead to planets in more evolved systems. These are the systems we don’t see close to very  massive stars. We see them only in systems outside the centre.”

Flight through star cluster Westerlund 2 - slow

Thanks to Hubble, astronomers can now see how stars are accreting in environments that are like the early Universe, where clusters were dominated by monster stars. So far, the best known nearby stellar environment that contains massive stars is the starbirth region in the Orion Nebula. However, Westerlund 2 is a richer target because of its larger stellar population.

“Westerlund 2 gives us much better statistics on how mass affects the evolution of  stars, how rapidly they evolve, and we see the evolution of stellar discs and the importance of stellar feedback in modifying the properties of these systems,” said Sabbi. “We can use all of this information to inform models of planet formation and stellar evolution.”

Pan across Westerlund 2

This cluster will also be an excellent target for follow-up observations with the upcoming NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, an infrared observatory. Hubble has helped astronomers identify the stars that have possible planetary structures. With the Webb telescope, researchers will be able to study which discs around stars are not accreting material and which discs still have material that could build up into planets. Webb will also study the chemistry of the discs in different evolutionary phases and watch how they change, to help astronomers determine what role the environment plays in their evolution.

“A major conclusion of this work is that the powerful ultraviolet radiation of massive stars alters the discs around neighbouring stars,” said Lennon. “If this is confirmed with measurements by the James Webb Space Telescope, this result may also explain why planetary systems are rare in old massive globular clusters.”

Notes:

[1] These observations were made under Hubble observing programs #14087, #15362, and #15514.

http://archive.stsci.edu/proposal_search.php?mission=hst&id=14807

http://archive.stsci.edu/proposal_search.php?mission=hst&id=15362

http://archive.stsci.edu/proposal_search.php?mission=hst&id=15514

More information:

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

The international team of astronomers in this study consists of E. Sabbi, M. Gennaro, J. Anderson, V. Bajaj, N. Bastian, J. S. Gallagher, III, M. Gieles, D. J. Lennon, A. Nota, K. C. Sahu, and P. Zeidler.

Links:

Images of Hubble: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/category/spacecraft/

Hubblesite release: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2020/news-2020-15

Science paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.04574

Westerlund 2 3D Tactile Print: https://hubblesite.org/contents/media/images/2020/15/4664-Image.html?news=true

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3: http://www.spacetelescope.org/about/general/instruments/wfc3/

ESA Hubblesite: http://www.spacetelescope.org/

Images, Animation, Text, Credits: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team/Digitized Sky Survey 2/Videos: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team/Music: Johan Back Monell (www.johanmonell.com)/NASA, ESA, G. Bacon, L. Frattare, Z. Levay, and F. Summers (Viz3D Team, STScI), and J. Anderson (STScI)/Acknowledgment: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team, and ESO.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Launch of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Rescheduled for Saturday, May 30

NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 Mission patch.

May 28, 2020

Image above: The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft at Launch Complex 39A on May 27, 2020. Image credit: NASA TV.

NASA and SpaceX scrubbed Wednesday’s launch attempt of the Demo-2 flight test to the International Space Station due to unfavorable weather conditions around Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch has been rescheduled to Saturday, May 30, at 3:22 p.m. EDT.

“I know there’s a lot of disappointment today. The weather got us,” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. “But it was a great day for NASA. It was a great day for SpaceX. Our teams worked together in a really impressive way, making good decisions all along.”

Image above: NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew members wave to their families, friends and support team members as they prepare to depart for Launch Complex 39A. Image credit: NASA TV.

The countdown proceeded smoothly throughout the day Wednesday, with no technical issues raised regarding the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket or the Crew Dragon spacecraft. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley suited up, walked out of Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building and rode out to the launch complex in a Tesla Model X before climbing on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft a few minutes ahead of schedule.

SpaceX Demo-2 aborted launch

However, later in the countdown, with operations underway to load the rocket’s propellants and the instantaneous launch window of 4:33 p.m. EDT drawing near, launch weather officials briefed SpaceX Launch Director Mike Taylor that there just wasn’t enough time to wait for weather to improve. Rain, cumulus clouds, attached anvil clouds, lightning and field mill data – which measure the amount of electricity in the atmosphere – all violated Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon launch criteria at times throughout the day.

“There was a concern that if we did launch, it could actually trigger lightning,” Bridenstine said. “We made the right decision.”

SpaceX’s decision to reschedule launch was made with only 17 minutes remaining until the anticipated liftoff time.

Image above: NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 crew members Douglas Hurley, foreground, and Robert Behnken, inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft at Launch Complex 39A. Image credit: NASA TV.

“We can see raindrops on the windows,” Hurley said as he and Behnken received the news that weather had prevented a liftoff Wednesday. “We understand everybody’s probably a little bummed out, but that’s part of the deal,” he added.

SpaceX removed propellant from the Falcon 9 rocket, the Crew Dragon’s launch escape system was disarmed and the crew access arm and White Room were returned to position beside the spacecraft’s side hatch. Hurley and Behnken exited the Crew Dragon at approximately 5:50 p.m. and departed to return to the Astronaut Crew Quarters inside the Operations and Checkout Building.

“Everybody did great today,” Hurley said before the crew climbed out of the spacecraft. “It was a good practice, and we’ll do it again on Saturday.”

Today’s (May 27) launch countdown was a valuable experience, Bridenstine pointed out.

Image above: The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft stand on Launch Complex 39A on May 27, 2020. Image credit: NASA TV.

“We did a wet dress rehearsal. We haven’t done a wet dress rehearsal with our astronauts, full gear, before,” he said. “We learn a lot every time we do these things, and today was no different.”

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission will be an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, paving the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It will be the first launch of American astronauts on an American rocket from American soil in nearly a decade, since the retirement of the space shuttle following its final flight, STS-135, in 2011.

Launch coverage on Saturday, May 30, will begin at 11 a.m. on NASA Television, on the web at http://www.nasa.gov/live

Related articles:

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Launch Rescheduled to Saturday Due to Weather
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-launch-rescheduled.html

Launch Day Arrives for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/launch-day-arrives-for-nasas-spacex.html

Excitement, Emotion Abound on Eve of Historic Demo-2 Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/excitement-emotion-abound-on-eve-of.html

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Preflight Checkouts, NASA Administrator Briefing and Launch Weather
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-preflight-checkouts.html

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Launch Readiness Review Complete
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-launch-readiness.html

Related links:

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

International Space Station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Anna Heiney/NASA TV/SciNews.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Launch Rescheduled to Saturday Due to Weather

NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 Mission patch.

May 27, 2020

Image above: The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft stand on Launch Complex 39A on May 27, 2020. Image credit: NASA TV.

NASA and SpaceX have scrubbed today’s launch attempt of the Demo-2 test flight to the International Space Station with astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley due to unfavorable weather conditions around Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX Demo-2 Astronauts enter Crew Dragon

SpaceX will begin removing propellant from the Falcon 9 rocket and then the astronauts will exit the Crew Dragon spacecraft. Launch coverage will continue until the crew has left the pad for Astronaut Crew Quarters.

Our next launch attempt will be at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

SpaceX Demo-2: Astronauts Exit Crew Dragon after Scrub

Image above: The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon spacecraft stand on Launch Complex 39A during the launch delay announcement on May 27, 2020. Image credits: ISS HD Live Now/NASA TV/Orbiter.ch Aerospace.

SpaceX completed propellant offload of the Falcon 9 rocket after weather scrubbed today’s launch attempt for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 test flight to the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley have exited the Crew Dragon spacecraft and are departing the Launch Complex 39A area at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew now will head back to Astronaut Crew Quarters.

SpaceX Demo-2 aborted launch

Our next launch attempt will be at 3:22 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 30, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Launch coverage will begin at 11 a.m. on NASA Television and the agency’s website, as well as numerous other platforms. A launch Saturday would lead to docking Sunday about 10:20 a.m.

Related links:

NASA Television: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Commercial Crew Program: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

International Space Station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Videos, Text, Credits: NASA/Anna Heiney/NASA TV/SciNews/Orbiter.ch Aerospace/Roland Berga.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch

Launch Day Arrives for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2

NASA & SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 Mission patch.

May 27, 2020

Image above: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft onboard is seen on the launch pad at Launch Complex 39A at sunrise as preparations continue for the Demo-2 mission, Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky.

Countdown clocks are ticking toward the launch of a new era in human spaceflight. With today’s scheduled launch of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, American astronauts will once again launch on American spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station. Liftoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley is targeted for 4:33 p.m. EDT from Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A.

Crew Dragon 39A Launchpad Views. Animation Credits: SpaceX/Science Ukraine

Don’t miss a minute of today’s events. Follow the countdown live starting at 12:15 p.m. EDT on NASA Television, on the web at http://www.nasa.gov/live

Image above: NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley, left, and Robert Behnken, wearing SpaceX spacesuits, are seen as they depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for Launch Complex 39A during a dress rehearsal prior to the Demo-2 mission launch, Saturday, May 23, 2020. Image Credits: NASA/ Bill Ingalls.

Behken and Hurley are spending the morning in the Astronaut Crew Quarters inside Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, where they’ll sit down for a preflight meal five hours prior to launch. The crewmates will receive a weather briefing at approximately 12:15 p.m., then begin suiting up in the crew quarters’ Suit Room around 12:30 p.m.

Here’s an overview of the countdown milestones ahead (EDT):

-04:15:00       Crew weather brief
-04:05:00       Crew handoff
-04:00:00       Suit donning and checkouts
-03:22:00       Crew walk out from Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building
-03:15:00       Crew transportation to Launch Complex 39A
-02:55:00       Crew arrives at pad
-02:35:00       Crew ingress
-02:20:00       Communication check
-02:15:00       Verify ready for seat rotation
-02:14:00       Suit leak checks
-01:55:00       Hatch close
-00:45:00       SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for propellant load
-00:42:00       Crew access arm retracts
-00:37:00       Dragon launch escape system is armed
-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
-00:07:00       Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
-00:05:00       Dragon transitions to internal power
-00:01:00       Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
-00:01:00       Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
-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

The Demo-2 mission will serve as an end-to-end flight test to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, from launch to docking to splashdown. It is the final flight test for the system to be certified for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

Related articles:

Excitement, Emotion Abound on Eve of Historic Demo-2 Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/excitement-emotion-abound-on-eve-of.html

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Preflight Checkouts, NASA Administrator Briefing and Launch Weather
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-preflight-checkouts.html

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Launch Readiness Review Complete
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-launch-readiness.html

Related links:

NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Commercial Crew Program: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

International Space Station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Anna Heiney.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch

Excitement, Emotion Abound on Eve of Historic Demo-2 Mission

NASA &  SpaceX - First Crewed Flight DM-2 Mission patch.

May 26, 2020

Anticipation continues to build at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida just one day before the scheduled launch of the agency’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft will carry two American NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, to the International Space Station for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Liftoff from Kennedy’s historic Launch Complex 39A is targeted for Wednesday, May 27, at 4:33 p.m. EDT — an instantaneous launch window.

Image above: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon atop, stands poised for launch at historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 21, 2020, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Photo credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

“I don’t have to tell you all how exciting it is to have the first flight of humans to space from the Kennedy Space Center in nine years,” Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana said during a briefing Tuesday, adding that the launch pad’s history only adds to the significance of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 launch. “Now, rather than rusting away in the salt air, through our partnership with SpaceX, that pad is being used once again, and it’s now for our Commercial Crew Program as well as other missions for SpaceX, and I think that’s absolutely outstanding.”

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine recognized the years of hard work required to prepare for this mission, including at the Florida spaceport.

“It’s been nine years since we’ve had this opportunity,” Bridenstine said. “And Bob Cabana, we want to thank you for all the great work you’ve done getting us up to this point, getting the Kennedy Space Center ready. Everything is looking good. As of right now, we are ‘go’ for launch.”

Image above: NASA officials sit several feet apart in Kennedy Space Center’s press site auditorium on Tuesday, May 26, for a briefing. From left to right are Center Director Bob Cabana; NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine; NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Kjell Lindgren; and NASA Deputy Administrator Jim Morhard. Image credit: NASA TV.

At the launch complex, SpaceX teams continue to prepare for liftoff. Prior to tomorrow’s targeted launch, SpaceX is bringing the rocket horizontal to perform additional preflight checkouts of Falcon 9, Crew Dragon, and the ground support system, including an inspection of the ground-side chilled water radiator feed that keeps Crew Dragon cool before launch. These checkouts do not impact the flight system or targeted launch date, and the vehicle is scheduled to return to vertical later tonight.

The U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron now predicts a 60% chance of favorable weather conditions for NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 launch — a change from the previous days’ projections, which called for a 40% chance of “go” conditions. The primary weather concerns for launch are flight through precipitation, anvil and cumulus clouds.

“We are so proud and happy for Doug and Bob. It feels kind of like one of your close family members having a great lifetime achievement — and really, that’s what it is,” said astronaut Nicole Mann, herself a member of the NASA astronaut team slated to fly on a future Commercial Crew Program launch on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. “I can speak for the astronaut office — that’s how we all feel, so proud for everything that they’ve accomplished with the NASA and SpaceX team to get ready for this launch.”

This will be SpaceX’s final test flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will provide critical data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, and landing operations.

While docked to the space station, Behnken and Hurley will join the Expedition 63 crew already on board the orbiting laboratory: astronaut Chris Cassidy and cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

NASA and SpaceX prepare to #LaunchAmerica

“That’s at the core of what we’re doing here today, to continue the incredible legacy of work that we’ve done on the International Space Station,” said NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, who flew to the station in 2015 aboard a Roscosmos Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Expedition 44/45 crew. “We’ve had humans living and working on that orbital outpost for almost 20 years, conducting science and research to extend our presence in the solar system and to improve life back here on Earth. This launch represents an extension of that capability.”

Bridenstine acknowledged the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the nation, even its influence on the briefing itself, as he and other briefers sat several feet apart, speaking to cameras in an auditorium empty of press.

“We would love to have this room full. We would love to have reporters; we’d love to have it filled with space enthusiasts,” he said. “Our country has been through a lot. But this is a unique moment when all of America can take a moment and look at our country do something stunning again, and that is to launch American astronauts on an American rocket from American soil to the space station.”

NASA and SpaceX will provide live coverage of the launch activities beginning Wednesday, May 27, at 12:15 p.m., leading up to liftoff and through arrival at the space station at 11:39 a.m. on Thursday, May 28.

NASA TV: http://www.nasa.gov/live

Related articles:

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2: Preflight Checkouts, NASA Administrator Briefing and Launch Weather
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-preflight-checkouts.html

NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 Launch Readiness Review Complete
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/nasas-spacex-demo-2-launch-readiness.html

Related links:

Commercial Crew Program: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/index.html

Commercial Spaceflight: https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/category/commercial-spaceflight/

International Space Station: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

Images (mentioned), Video, Text, Credits: NASA/Anna Heiney.

Best regards, Orbiter.ch