Dec 29 2014
From The Space Library
RELEASE M14-207 NASA Updates Pre-Launch Briefings for Upcoming Resupply Mission to Space Station
The fifth SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract now is scheduled to launch at 6:20:29 a.m. EST Tuesday, Jan. 6, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA Television coverage of the launch begins at 5 a.m.
The new launch date will provide SpaceX engineers time to investigate further issues that arose from a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 16, and will ensure proper sun angles for thermal and operational conditions to berth Dragon.
The prelaunch news conferences also have moved to Monday, Jan. 5, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. All briefings, which are subject to a change in time, will air live on NASA TV and the agency's website.
The first briefing of the day will air at noon and cover the Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) Earth science instrument headed to the space station. Participants for this briefing will be:
- Julie Robinson, ISS Program chief scientist at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston
- Robert J. Swap, program scientist with the Earth Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Matthew McGill, CATS principal investigator at Goddard
The second briefing will air at 1:30 p.m. and cover some of the numerous science investigations headed to the space station. Participants for the science briefing will be:
- Julie Robinson, NASA’s ISS Program chief scientist
- Kenneth Shields, director of operations and education for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space
- Cheryl Nickerson, Micro-5 principal investigator at Arizona State University
- Samuel Durrance, NR-SABOL principal investigator at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne
The final briefing will air at 4 p.m. and provide up-to-date information about the launch. Participants for the prelaunch briefing will be:
- Mike Suffredini, NASA’s ISS Program manager
- Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for Mission Assurance at SpaceX
- Maj. Perry Sweat, U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida
An on-time launch on Jan. 6 will result in the Dragon spacecraft arriving at the space station on Thursday, Jan. 8. Expedition 42 Commander Barry "Butch" Wilmore of NASA will use the station's 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture Dragon at approximately 6 a.m. Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency will support Wilmore as they operate from the station's cupola. NASA TV coverage of grapple will begin at 4:30 a.m. Coverage of Dragon's installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin at 8:15 a.m.
