Parabolic Arc

Image above: A technician guides a cargo bag into the Dragon spacecraft at the SpaceX facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (NASA PR) – The Dragon spacecraft built by SpaceX will head to the International Space Station with about 1,200 pounds of cargo during its demonstration mission, including commemorative patches and pins, 162 meals and a collection of student experiments.

Since the company’s rocket and spacecraft are conducting a test flight, the manifest attests to important goods for the station’s crew of astronauts and cosmonauts, but not mission-critical items.
A successful flight, due to liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.,at 4:55 a.m. EDT on May 19, is expected to lead to regular cargo missions that will carry a wider range of goods to the orbiting laboratory. Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, is also deep into the work required to make Dragon suitable to carry people into orbit.

The mission is a landmark because it is the first time a privately built spacecraft will head to the International Space Station. The flight, which includes no crew members other than those already on the station who will guide Dragon’s arrival, carries enormous challenges and involves numerous individual evaluations.

Continue reading ‘Dragon to Carry Equipment, Food and Student Experiments to ISS’

The latest update from SpaceX:

SpaceX and NASA are nearing completion of the software assurance process, and SpaceX is submitting a request to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for a May 19th launch target with a backup on May 22nd.

Thus far, no issues have been uncovered during this process, but with a mission of this complexity we want to be extremely diligent.

The launch of the first Dragon spacecraft to fly to ISS had been scheduled for May 7 with a backup date of May 10. A new three-man crew is set to launch aboard a Soyuz rocket on May 14, necessitating a longer delay for the SpaceX Dragon mission once it missed the May 10 launch date.

UPDATE: William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, issued the following statement later on Friday:

“After additional reviews and discussions between the SpaceX and NASA teams, we are in a position to proceed toward this important launch. The teamwork provided by these teams is phenomenal. There are a few remaining open items but we are ready to support SpaceX for its new launch date of May 19.”