Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Static fire complete in run-up to launch of SpaceX supply ship

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 6, 2016 at 7:04:47 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Static fire complete in run-up to launch of SpaceX supply ship

April 5, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-035
NASA Progresses Toward SpaceX Resupply Mission to Space Station
The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), developed for NASA by Bigelow Aerospace, is lifted into SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft for transport to the International Space Station when the spacecraft launches at 4:43 p.m. Friday, April 8, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida
Credits: SpaceX
NASA provider SpaceX is scheduled to launch its eighth Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station on Friday, April 8. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is targeted to lift off on the company's Falcon 9 rocket at 4:43 p.m. from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida, carrying science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 47 and 48 crews.
NASA TV also will air two briefings on Thursday, April 7. At 1 p.m., scientists and researchers will discuss some of the investigations to be delivered to the station, followed by a briefing by mission managers at 3:30 p.m. The briefings also will stream live on the agency's website.
About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon will reach its preliminary orbit, deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the space station.
The spacecraft will arrive at the station Sunday, April 10, at which time NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake will use the station's robotic arm to capture the Dragon spacecraft. Ground commands will be sent from Houston to the station's arm to install Dragon on the bottom side of the Harmony module for its stay at the space station. Live coverage of the rendezvous and capture will begin at 5:30 a.m. on NASA TV, with installation set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
The following day, the crew will pressurize the space between the station and Dragon and open the hatch between the two spacecraft.
The Dragon spacecraft will deliver almost 7,000 pounds of supplies and vehicle hardware to the orbital outpost and its crew. The cargo includes the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM), which will be attached to the space station to test the use of an expandable space habitat in microgravity. Scheduled to return to Earth in May, the Dragon spacecraft will bring back biological samples from astronauts, including those collected during NASA's one-year mission.
The new experiments arriving to the station will help investigators study muscle atrophy and bone loss in space, use microgravity to seek insight into the interactions of particle flows at the nanoscale level and use protein crystal growth in microgravity to help in the design of new drugs to fight disease.
Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth on May 11. About five-and-a-half hours after it leaves the station, it will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California.
Media at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will have the opportunity to participate in special tours and briefings on April 7 and 8, as well as view the launch. The deadline for media to apply for accreditation for this launch has passed. For more information about media accreditation, contact Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov.
If the launch does not occur on Friday, April 8, the next launch opportunity is 4:20 p.m. Saturday, April 9, with NASA TV coverage starting at 3:15 p.m.
For an updated schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/content/spacex-crs-8-briefings-and-events
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
Learn more about the SpaceX mission to the International Space Station at:
http://www.nasa.gov/spacex
-end-
Tabatha Thompson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4811
tabatha.t.thompson@nasa.gov
Gregory B. Harland
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-861-7401
gregory.b.harland@nasa.gov
Last Updated: April 5, 2016
Editor: Karen Northon

Static fire complete in run-up to launch of SpaceX supply ship
April 6, 2016 Stephen Clark
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is pictured inside the hangar at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad before rollout leading up to Tuesday's static fire test. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX ran a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary preflight checkout Tuesday, filling it with super-cold propellants and firing its nine Merlin first stage engines in preparation for liftoff Friday on a resupply run to the International Space Station.
The static fire test Tuesday night at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is a critical milestone ahead of Friday's scheduled takeoff of the Falcon 9 rocket with SpaceX's Dragon supply ship with 6,913 pounds (3,136 kilograms) of cargo for the space station and its six-person crew.
The cargo load includes live mice for an experiment studying how long-duration spaceflight can waste muscle mass, and an expandable module made by Las Vegas-based Bigelow Aerospace to be attached to the space station for a technology demonstration that could inform the designs of future inflatable space habitats.
SpaceX announced the completion of the static fire on social media Tuesday night. Engineers plan to review data from the test before convening a launch readiness review later this week to formally approve the start of final launch preps.
Liftoff is set for 4:43 p.m. EDT (2043 GMT) Friday, kicking off a one-and-a-half-day pursuit of the massive research complex before arrival early Sunday.
The space station's Canadian-built robotic arm, under the control of astronauts aboard the outpost, will grapple the approaching Dragon cargo capsule around 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT) Sunday, assuming an on-time launch Friday.
The cargo delivery mission is SpaceX's eighth operational resupply flight to the space station. Based in Southern California, SpaceX has at least 18 more space station cargo flights on contract after Friday's launch.
NASA selected SpaceX and Orbital ATK to ferry supplies and experiments to the space station in 2008. Their multibillion-dollar contracts currently extend through 2018.
The space agency has picked SpaceX, Orbital ATK and newcomer Sierra Nevada Corp. for commercial resupply missions to the space station from 2019 through 2024.
Credit: SpaceX
Friday's launch will mark the 23rd flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and the third launch of an upgraded version of the two-stage booster producing higher thrust and burning a super-chilled mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants.
It will also be SpaceX's first cargo flight to the space station in nearly a year.
The last time a Dragon spaceship flew to the complex was in April 2015, two months before a Falcon 9 rocket disintegrated minutes after blastoff on the Dragon capsule's next space station resupply mission.
The launch failure grounded the Falcon 9 rocket for six months, and kept Dragon missions from flying for nearly a year.
The preliminary forecast for Friday's instantaneous launch opportunity calls for an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather.
A weak cold front is forecast to move over Cape Canaveral on Thursday, bringing gusty winds and rain showers to the area. But conditions are expected to improve Friday.
"On Friday, skies are expected to clear behind the boundary with only a few lingering cirrostratus clouds associated with the jet stream digging in along the eastern seaboard," the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron wrote in an official launch forecast issued Tuesday. "Surface winds will remain off-shore and elevated throughout the day on Friday, gusting into the mid-twenties."
The primary weather concern Friday is liftoff winds.
The outlook for launch time Friday calls for a few clouds at 35,000 feet, west winds at 18 to 23 mph, and a temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit.
If liftoff is delayed to Saturday, there is a 90 percent chance weather conditions will be favorable at launch time.

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