NASA, SpaceX Ready to Launch Astronauts on Wednesday
NASA and SpaceX are poised for a Wednesday launch from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center of astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the Crew Dragon Demo-2 flight. Monday’s launch readiness review, the final formal review before a launch attempt, gave a GO for launch on the mission. In the pre-launch press briefing, NASA and SpaceX officials expressed continued confidence in systems, safety, and procedure, with Kathy Lueders of NASA confirming the dry dress and readiness reviews went smoothly.
For weather, however, confidence is lower. Tuesday’s data from the Space Force shows a 40% probability of unfavorable conditions, reflecting speculation by Mike McAleenan of the 45th Space Wing that conditions would improve in Monday’s briefing. The uncertainty hinges on the dynamic situation here in central Florida that may turn into a tropical low and head northeast towards the Carolinas. Conditions in recovery zones across the Atlantic towards England remain favorable.
Hans Koenigsmann of SpaceX noted that there are three opportune times on launch day itself to scrub due to weather: T-6 hours, T-4 hours (the crew weather brief), and T-45 minutes (abort system engaged). The next launch window would be Saturday afternoon, and then Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile in Earth orbit, the ISS crew has prepared for Dragon’s arrival, according to Kirk Shireman of NASA Johnson. A phone meeting including all international partners in the ISS occurred today, with all countries and organizations ready to proceed.
Veteran astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken remain in quarantine at NASA Kennedy, participating in technical meetings and visits with family and friends, according to NASA’s Norm Knight.
The astronauts will awake at 9am on Wednesday and undergo a medical exam, followed by breakfast. At 12pm a weather review will be conducted. At 1pm, the astronauts will begin the suit-up procedure, leaving NASA Kennedy’s O&C building from the famous double doors around 2:30pm, heading to Pad 39-A in a NASA decal-ed Tesla. They will be strapped into the Dragon spacecraft by SpaceX’s black-suit wearing white room technicians for an on-time 4:33pm departure out of the spaceport. The launch window is instantaneous, meaning any delay will automatically push the launch to Saturday at 3:22pm.
For the 1 day shakedown cruise to the ISS, in addition to sleeping, they will be testing systems all around, and engineers will be gathering data on how the Crew Dragon actually operates with a crew in-flight, as expressed by Lueders. One of the major areas of study will be the ECLSS (Environmental Control and Life Support System). Koenigsmann emphasized that ECLSS can only be tested to an extent on Earth, and that use in a microgravity environment will complete the testing phase.
This test flight carries many firsts, and among them is the first time a spacecraft has been flown almost entirely with a touchscreen interface. The commercial crew astronauts have been training for years to test them in space and have confidence in their ergonomics. However, physical, traditional controls remain in the spacecraft, used for critical functions and “dynamic” situations. For ISS docking, the crew will take over manual control twice - both tests - at the beginning and towards the end of the docking procedure.
Launch will be conducted by Space X launch control in Firing Room 4 at NASA Kennedy. Flight phases will be conducted by SpaceX mission control in Hawthorne. When Dragon rendezvous and docks with the ISS, the crew will then work with NASA mission control in Houston for the three months the spacecraft acts as a part of the ISS. Upon separation and return to Earth, SpaceX Hawthorne will once again pick up control.
Hurley and Behnken will work alongside the crew of Expedition 63 onboard the ISS, before an expected September return to Earth, splashing down in the Atlantic ocean. Demo-2 will be followed by Crew-1, the first operational Dragon flight, carrying 4 astronauts from NASA and JAXA.
ad meliora
Check out NASA HQ Photo and SpaceX for images of the crew, spacecraft, rocket, and mission preparations.
Cover image - Crew Dragon Demo 2 crew Doug Hurley (L) and Bob Behnken (R) pose with their spacecraft and rocket at pad 39-A (Photo: NASA).
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
McLendon, Tori, Norm Knight, Hans Koenigsmann, Kathy Lueders, Mike McAleenan, Kirk Shireman. “NASA SpaceX Demo-2 Pre-Launch Briefing.” NASA. 25 May 2020.
