The launch teams are expecting to begin analyzing the final weather balloon soon as upper-level winds remain red this evening. The data from the next-to-last balloon revealed conditions that are still outside the allowed limits.
It takes a team to launch effective spacecraft and DSCOVR is an example of that. NOAA has worked with NASA to get the spacecraft ready for launch and the U.S. Air Force is providing the SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch DSCOVR. Once in place, DSCOVR will serve NOAA and the nation as an observatory of …
Liquid oxygen at minus-297 degrees F is being pumped into the SpaceX Falcon 9 at this hour as the countdown continues toward a 6:05 p.m. EST liftoff. A portion of the propellant boils off during the countdown and is vented producing the cloud beside the rocket in this image. A trickle of liquid oxygen will …
NOAA’s DSCOVR spacecraft will launch atop a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Falcon 9 will put DSCOVR on a course to a region called L1 that is about a million miles from Earth. From there, DSCOVR will have a constant view of the …
With one hour to go before today’s launch opportunity, Mike McAleenan of the 45th Space Wing just delivered a detailed forecast calling for an 80 percent chance of acceptable conditions. The concerns are for high winds at launch time. Controllers are evaluating data recorded by weather balloons that are periodically sent aloft to gauge conditions …
Welcome to our continuous coverage of the countdown to launch of DSCOVR, a new spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. Today’s launch time is 6:05:33 p.m. EST. There are no technical issues at this time, but the winds at higher altitudes are currently red.
SpaceX-5 Dragon Departure: Today, the crew configured the Dragon/Node-2 vestibule for demate by disconnecting Air Revitalization System (ARS) jumper, both power and data jumpers, and installed the Center Disk Cover then closed the Node 2 Nadir Hatch. Later, they depressurized and pressure checked the vestibule. Dragon was then unberthed from the Node 2 Nadir docking …
Credit: SpaceX
At T-2 hours there are no technical issues and the launch weather is both observed and forecast to be “Go” at the planned liftoff time of 6:05:33 p.m. EST. Engineers continue to assess weather balloon data and the upper level winds remain red.
Managers have made a slight adjustment to the targeted liftoff time of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying NOAA’s DSCOVR into space. The new launch time is 6:05:33.5 p.m. EST. At T-2 hours, 55 minutes, the Falcon 9’s first and second stages are being loaded with RP-1, a rocket-grade kerosene, and liquid oxygen.
