Key Milestones to Keep in Mind for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 Mission
Below are some of the key milestones leading up to the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-3 mission, as well as some critical events that occur after liftoff. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to lift off just a little more than four hours from now at 9:03 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A in Florida.
- 5:01 p.m. Crew-3 weather briefing
- 5:06 p.m. Launch Director countdown briefing and readiness poll; crew suit donning
- 5:40 p.m. Crew walkout from Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building
- 6:04 p.m. Crew arrival at Launch Complex 39A
- 6:28 p.m. Crew ingress into Endurance
- 7:08 p.m. Endurance hatch closure
- 8:08 p.m. Mission Director Go/No-Go poll for propellant loading
- 8:13 p.m. Final Go/No-Go for propellant loading
- 8:21 p.m. Crew access arm retracts
- 8:25 p.m. Dragon launch escape system is armed
- 8:28 p.m. Falcon 9 propellant loading begins
- 8:59 p.m. Strongback retraction
- 9:01 p.m. Falcon 9 propellant load complete and vehicle transitions to internal power
- 9:03 p.m. Liftoff!
- 9:12 p.m. Falcon 9 second stage engine cutoff (SECO)
- 9:15 p.m. Crew Dragon separation from Falcon 9
- 9:16 p.m. Crew Dragon nosecone deploy
