Updated coverage details for rescheduled NASA SpaceX launch

NASA’s launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 test flight originally scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, was scrubbed due to unfavorable weather conditions. Our favorite space agency has since updated their live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for that flight, which will be carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the International Space Station.

NASA and SpaceX now are targeting 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday, May 30, for the launch of the first commercially built and operated American rocket and spacecraft carrying astronauts to the space station.

Full mission coverage begins at 11 a.m., and will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Prelaunch coverage still includes a special performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Grammy Award-winning singer Kelly Clarkson.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is scheduled to dock to the space station at 10:29 a.m. Sunday, May 31.

This will be SpaceX’s final test flight for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and will provide critical data on the performance of the Falcon 9 rocket, Crew Dragon spacecraft, and ground systems, as well as in-orbit, docking, and landing operations. 

The test flight also will provide valuable data toward certification of SpaceX’s crew transportation system for regular flights carrying astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX currently is readying the hardware for the first space station crew rotational mission, which would happen after data from this test flight is reviewed for certification.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, media participation in news conferences will be remote, with only a limited number of media, who already have been accredited, will be accommodated at Kennedy. For the protection of media and Kennedy employees, the Kennedy Press Site News Center facilities will remain closed to all media throughout these events.

Live NASA coverage is as follows. All times are EDT:

Friday, May. 29

• 10 a.m. – Administrator Countdown Clock Briefing (weather permitting; limited in-person media only, no dial in)
  • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
  • Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana
  • NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren
  • NASA astronaut Nicole Mann

Saturday, May 30

• 11 a.m. – NASA TV launch coverage begins (continues through docking)
  • 3:22 p.m. – Liftoff
  • 4:09 p.m. – Crew Dragon phase burn 
  • 4:55 p.m. – Far-field manual flight test 
  • TBD p.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
• 6:30 p.m. – Postlaunch news conference at Kennedy
  • Administrator Bridenstine
  • Kathy Lueders, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
  • SpaceX representative
  • Kirk Shireman, manager, International Space Station Program
  • NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester

Sunday, May 31

• TBD a.m. – Astronaut downlink event from Crew Dragon
• 10:29 a.m. – Docking
• 12:45 p.m. – Hatch Open
• 1:05 p.m. – Welcome ceremony
• 3:15 p.m. – Post-arrival news conference at Johnson
  • NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine
  • Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer
  • NASA Chief Astronaut Pat Forrester

Monday, June 1

• 11:15 a.m. – Space Station crew news conference, with NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley
• 12:55 p.m. – SpaceX employee event and Class of 2020 Mosaic presentation, with NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy, Bob Behnken, and Doug Hurley

This test flight is a pivotal point in NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is working with the U.S. aerospace industry to launch astronauts on American rockets and spacecraft from American soil to the space station for the first time since 2011.

The goal of the Commercial Crew Program is to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station. This could allow for additional research time and increase the opportunity for discovery aboard humanity’s testbed for exploration, including preparation for human exploration of the Moon and Mars.

For launch countdown coverage, NASA’s launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

To see the initial space launch attempt from this past Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, Florida – see the video accompanying this article.

(Source: NASA)
(Cover photo: NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley (left) and Robert Behnken (right) participate in a dress rehearsal for launch at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 23, 2020, ahead of NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station.  Image credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter