SpaceX Crew Dragon Demo-2

[Buck87]

This will be the first orbital launch of American astronauts from American soil since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011.

Lauch time is scheduled for this afternoon at 4:33 pm EDT from pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Backup launch dates are this Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31.

Docking at the International Space Station will take place 19 hours after the launch, and the time the Dragon capsule will stay there has yet to be determined. The astronauts for this historic mission are Doug Hurley (who flew on the final Space Shuttle mission) and Bob Behnken (also a Space Shuttle veteran)

The launch will be streamed live on both NASA and SpaceX's youtube pages, and live streaming of pre launch activities will begin at 12:15 pm EDT.

Crew Dragon Demo-1 took place last year, and was an unmanned test of the capsule that successfully docked with the ISS. This Demo-2 mission is the crewed test, with the purpose of proving the system can safely transport humans too and from the ISS. If successful, NASA will begin using the Dragon capsule to ferry 4 astronauts at a time to the ISS starting this fall.

I'm very excited to watch this today, but am pretty nervous that it will be bumped back to the weekend due to weather (note: they have to look at both the weather at Cape Canaveral as well as weather and sea conditions where the first stage will attempt to land on an autonomous drone ship)

[sprjus4]

I'm very excited to watch this today, but am pretty nervous that it will be bumped back to the weekend due to weather (note: they have to look at both the weather at Cape Canaveral as well as weather and sea conditions where the first stage will attempt to land on an autonomous drone ship)

It appears weather conditions may be unfavorable through the weekend as well. Pretty much thunderstorms projected for the remainder of the week into next week at least in Cape Canaveral, not even taking into account weather in the path that has to be accounted for as well.

[1995hoo]

....

I'm very excited to watch this today, but am pretty nervous that it will be bumped back to the weekend due to weather (note: they have to look at both the weather at Cape Canaveral as well as weather and sea conditions where the first stage will attempt to land on an autonomous drone ship)

They also have to look at sea conditions along the ascent path in case of an abort. Unlike the space shuttle, the Crew Dragon is designed to allow for an in-flight abort and splashdown. With Tropical Storm Bertha churning off the South Carolina coast and making landfall this morning, there's a fair chance they might not launch this afternoon even if the weather is clear at Cape Canaveral because they need to be able to station ships out there to recover the capsule and the astronauts in case of an abort.

[kalvado]

Unlike the space shuttle, the Crew Dragon is designed to allow for an in-flight abort and splashdown.

Shuttle also had a serious set of abort rules and modes - most of them never used (ATO - abort to orbit - was the only used one, I believe). Weather at remote landing sites (Zaragoza, Spain being one) was part of "go" criteria, though

[1995hoo]

Unlike the space shuttle, the Crew Dragon is designed to allow for an in-flight abort and splashdown.

Shuttle also had a serious set of abort rules and modes - most of them never used (ATO - abort to orbit - was the only used one, I believe). Weather at remote landing sites (Zaragoza, Spain being one) was part of "go" criteria, though

Yeah, ATO was used only one time. I suppose I should have said something along the lines of there being an ejection-style abort capability where the Crew Dragon capsule separates from the rocket in case of a problem. With the shuttle, it was more complicated than that, and of course we saw the consequences with Challenger.

NASA wanted the first Columbia mission back in 1981 to be a test of the "Return to Launch Site" abort system, but the astronauts refused to fly it and likened it to Russian roulette.

[sprjus4]

Launch has been canceled due to unfavorable weather.

[1995hoo]

Next attempt Saturday afternoon around 15:00.

[US 89]

Launch has been canceled due to unfavorable weather.

Not surprising, especially given the fact that Cape Canaveral had a tornado warning earlier. Multiple severe thunderstorm warnings are still in effect in the area.

[sprjus4]

Next attempt Saturday afternoon around 15:00.

Curious how that attempt, along with Sundays if delayed again will go. Thunderstorms on the forecast throughout the rest of the week and into next week.

[mgk920]

Ya just gotta love Florida weather!



Mike

[mgk920]

Next attempt Saturday afternoon around 15:00.

The time given is 15:22 EDT.  The time window for launch is very short, no more than a few seconds, this due to them planning to rendezvous with another orbiting craft about 17 hours after launch and with a limited supply of fuel on board.

Mike

[Scott5114]

Can we blast Elon Musk into space and leave him there?

[catch22]

I remember vividly watching John Glenn's Mercury flight as a 3rd-grader, all of us clustered around a fuzzy B&W television in a crowded dark classroom.  Things have changed just a tad in the space business, not the mention our ability to watch all aspects of it.

[Buck87]

Excellent launch today. The weather forecast wasn't looking good this morning, but it cleared up in time.

Just watched a replay of the capsule tour Bob and Doug did about an hour ago, which was neat to see. I love how futuristic the interior of the capsule looks.

[ozarkman417]

Who else saw the Crew Dragon chasing the ISS in the night sky?

[mgk920]

Excellent launch today. The weather forecast wasn't looking good this morning, but it cleared up in time.

Just watched a replay of the capsule tour Bob and Doug did about an hour ago, which was neat to see. I love how futuristic the interior of the capsule looks.

Just comparing the interior of the Crew Dragon capsule with those of the Apollo capsules of 50 years ago is definitely eye opening!



Mike