Categories: SpaceX

70% Weather Chance SpaceX ‘GO’ for Launch

Falcon 9 Rocket with expandable landing legs. Credit: SpaceX via Twitter.

UPDATE: SpaceX Launch from Florida Delayed

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — The launch of a Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket carrying a cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station is scheduled to liftoff at 4:41 a.m. EDT Sunday, March 16, 2014 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The most recent forecast issued by the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron predicts a 70% chance of overall permissible weather conditions for the SpaceX launch. The primary weather concern for launch are thick clouds.

SpaceX could make space history once again. This time with a controlled descent of the Falcon 9’s first stage. Approximately 161 seconds into flight, the first-stage engines will shut down, an event known as main-engine cutoff, or MECO. At that point, Falcon 9 is 80 kilometers (50 miles) high, traveling at 10 times the speed of sound. Three seconds after MECO, the first and second stages will separate.

After separation, landing legs will be extended into a 60-foot span from the first stage. SpaceX will then attempt a controlled descent (with the help of retro rockets) of the first stage into the Atlantic Ocean. The ultimate goal of this test is to create a reusable first-stage booster rocket that would decrease the overall launch costs.

Once in orbit, the Dragon capsule is scheduled to arrive at the station on Tuesday, March 18, when it will be grappled and berthed to the complex for an expected four-week visit. The capsule is filled with about 4,600 pounds of supplies for the space station crew and missions being conducted aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth on April 17 for a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California. It will be bringing back more than 3,600 pounds of experiment samples and equipment.