Live coverage of the countdown and launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket will launch SpaceX’s 25th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Follow us Twitter.
The SpaceX 25 mission to resupply cargo to the International Space Station blasted off Thursday at 8:44 p.m. EDT (Friday 00:44 GMT) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket launched a Dragon capsule toward the station, carrying nearly three tons of cargo.
Liftoff from Pad 39A in Kennedy occurred precisely at 8:44:22 p.m. EDT (00:44:22 GMT), at a time when Earth’s rotation brought the launch site below the orbital plane of the space station.
There was a 70% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch Thursday, according to the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron. The main weather concerns were cumulus clouds that could create a lightning hazard and fly through the precipitation.
But the weather persisted Thursday to allow the Falcon 9 to take off from the Florida space coast.
After takeoff, Falcon 9 headed northeast of Kennedy, powered by nine Merlin engines generating 1.7 million pounds of thrust. La fusée a arrêté son propulseur de premier étage environ deux minutes et demie après le début de la mission, permettant au propulseur de descendre pour attterrir sur un drone à environ 186 miles (300 kilomètres) en aval de l’océan Atlantique ept heure environ And a half. Minutes and a half after take off.
The booster, tail number B1067, completed its fifth flight on the CRS-25 mission. It previously launched the CRS-22 cargo mission last June, launched two NASA crewed missions to the station, and carried Turkey’s communications satellite Turksat 5B into space.
The Dragon spacecraft blasted off from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 about 12 minutes after liftoff to begin a day-and-a-half journey to the International Space Station. The Dragon cargo capsule for the CRS-25 mission has been launched on its third flight to the station.
Stationed in a firing suite at the Kennedy Launch Control Center, the SpaceX launch team began loading the highly-cooled, condensed kerosene and liquid oxygen boosters into the 215-foot (65-meter) Falcon 9 at the 35-minute T-minus.
Compressed helium also flowed into the rocket in the last half hour of the countdown. During the last seven minutes before liftoff, the Falcon 9 Merlin’s main engines were thermally conditioned for flight through a procedure known as “cooling”. The Falcon 9’s field-specific guidance and safety systems have also been configured for launch.
With the launch on time Thursday evening, the Dragon cargo ship is expected to automatically dock with the space station’s Harmony module at 11:20 AM EDT (1520 GMT) on Saturday.
Astronauts on the space station will open the hatches and dismantle supplies, experiments, and other equipment stored inside the pressurized Dragon capsule compartment. At the end of the mission, the reusable capsule will be unloaded from the station and headed for a parachute-assisted landing off the coast of Florida in mid-August with several tons of cargo.
The cargo ship released nearly 5,800 pounds of supplies and payloads, including a NASA climate instrument to be installed outside the space station.
The EMIT (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation) instrument was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It will be linked to an installation station outside the space station to measure the mineral content of the world’s desert regions, the source of global dust storms that can affect climate and weather around the world.
The data collected by the tool will help scientists learn more about the impact of dust thrown into the atmosphere by deserts on terrestrial ecosystems and human health.
“This is going to be a very busy mission for us,” said Dana Weigel, deputy program manager for NASA’s Space Station. “It’s full of a lot of science. The expected duration is about 33 days.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch in early June, but SpaceX delayed the flight to solve a vapor leak in the Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system and replace the capsule’s four main parachutes as a precaution in case the lubricant deteriorates due to toxic fuel. a leak.
Rocket: Falcon 9 (B1067.5)
Payload: Cargo Dragon (CRS-25)
launch site: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
launch date: July 14, 2022
launch time: 8:44:22 PM EDT (12:44:22 AM GMT July 15)
Weather Forecast: 70% chance of acceptable weather conditions; low risk of strong winds; Reduced risk of adverse conditions for enhanced recovery
Recovery from reinforcement: Drone ship named “A Shortfall of Gravitas” east of Jacksonville, Florida
AZIMUTH LAUNCH: North East
target orbit: 118 x 130 miles (190 x 210 kilometers), 51.6 degrees incline
Release schedule:
- T+00:00: take off
- T+01: 12: Maximum air pressure (Max-Q)
- T+02:27: 1st stage main engine shutdown (MECO)
- T+02:30: Floor separation
- T+02:38: Ignition the engine in the second stage
- T+02:43: 1st stage reverse ignition (three engines)
- 03:15 T+: First stage reverse pumping cut off
- T+05:45: 1st stage inlet combustion (three engines)
- T+05:59: First stage inlet combustion cut off
- T+07:06: 1st stage combustion ignition (single engine)
- T+07:33: First stage landing
- T+08:37: Second stage engine shutdown (SECO 1)
- T+11:49: Cargo Dragon Chapter
Job stats:
- The 164th launch of the Falcon 9 since 2010
- The 172nd launch of the Falcon family of rockets since 2006
- Fifth launch of the Falcon 9 Booster B1067
- The 143rd Falcon 9 rocket launched from Space Coast, Florida
- SpaceX launch 51 from platform 39A
- Total launch 145 from platform 39A
- Flight 106 of the reused Falcon 9 catalyst
- Fifth Edition of the Enhanced Goods Dragon Game
- The 25th cargo mission from SpaceX to the International Space Station
- The launch of the 30th Falcon 9 rocket in 2022
- SpaceX’s 30th launch in 2022
- The 30th orbital launch from Cape Canaveral in 2022
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