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Weather conditions are expected to be favorable to the Wednesday launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, confirmed the air force over the weekend.

The 3:59 launch from Launch Complex 40 is expected to face 80% "start" conditions during the instant window, which means that the rocket must be launched at that time or delayed to another day. The secure Dragon spacecraft over the rocket will fly to the International Space Station with thousands of scientific experiments, cargo and supplies.

"Southeasterly winds and isolated coastal showers are expected to continue Tuesday and early Wednesday morning," forecasters at 45 Meteorological Squadron said Sunday. "These cumulus clouds are the main meteorological concern."

In case of delay compared to Thursday, conditions remain virtually the same, but record a 70% dip "disappear" due to the increased likelihood of thick cloud layers.

Shortly after take-off, the first stage of the rocket, 156 feet high, will return to landing approximately 16 miles from the coast of Port Canaveral on the Of course I still love you drone, generating sound bangs on the way that will probably wake up the call of many people in the area.

The mission – SpaceX's 17th contract mission under NASA's commercial replenishment service contract – follows the loss of a Crew Dragon capsule at Cape Canaveral on April 20th. the drone ship. Moving the landing will preserve the evidence and give the teams time to restore the area.

Dragon Cargo and Crew Dragon, although similar with some common components, are different vehicles. The latter is designed for cargo only, while the former has managed to fly once unmanned and is designed to bring astronauts to the ISS.

Contact Emre Kelly at [email protected] or 321-242-3715. Follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram on @EmreKelly.

TO CLOSE

December 5, 2018: A SpaceX Falcon 9 is launched at Cape Canaveral with supplies for the ISS, but the first leg does not land in the nearby 1 landing zone.
SpaceX

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