[ad_1]
Reload
SpaceX, NASA target on November 14 for crew-1 launch
SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station is now scheduled to launch on Saturday, November 14 at 7:49 PM EST (0049 GMT on November 15), NASA announced on Monday (October 26).
Initially scheduled for launch on August 30, Crew-1 faced numerous delays in takeoff. NASA first pushed the mission to late September, then October 23, then October 31, and finally from early to mid-November, citing logistical and technical problems. The target date just announced reinforces this latter timeline.
NASA also announced that it will hold a press conference on Wednesday, October 28 at 4pm EDT (2000 GMT) “to discuss the upcoming launch, including the results of recent Falcon 9 Merlin engine tests following unexpected data that SpaceX noted during recent non-NASA launch, “the agency said in a statement. You can watch it live here on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV, or directly via the agency’s website.
Crew 1 astronauts arrive at the launch site
The crew of four astronauts from the SpaceX Crew-1 mission for NASA arrived at their Kennedy Space Center launch site for a November 14 launch on the International Space Station.
NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi have landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at KSC to prepare for their upcoming launch from the Cape Canaveral, Florida spaceport. Takeoff is scheduled for 7:49 PM EST (2249 GMT) on Saturday.
Hopkins will command the Crew-1 mission, which will be launched at the station in a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and a Falcon 9 rocket. The crew-1 astronauts called their spacecraft Resilience for flight.
“On behalf of the Resilience crew, on behalf of our families, we want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the people at SpaceX, NASA and the (Department of Defense) who have worked tirelessly to bring us to this point. truly an incredible effort by an incredible group of people, ”Hopkins said in a statement. “As for the crew: we are ready.”
On Monday (November 9), NASA and SpaceX mission managers will hold a flight readiness review meeting at the Kennedy Space Center to make sure everything is ready for the upcoming flight. NASA will hold a press conference one hour after the meeting ends to update the public on the launch.
You can also join NASA’s Virtual Crew Media Engagement webcast on Monday at 1:15 PM EST (1815 GMT) via NASA TV. You can watch it live online here and via NASA.gov/live and the NASA YouTube channel.
Source link