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It's time for another SpaceX launch, and although tonight (technically early tomorrow morning) is not as historic as the Falcon Heavy, it's still impressive to see a Falcon 9 take off with supplies for the International Space Station. But bad weather threatens to delay delivery.
CRS-17 will bring two tons of supplies and other items to ISS, with the new orbiting Carbon Observatory-3, an experiment to generate algae for human consumption on board (they will not try it this time), and a new multi-experiment microgravity platform called Hermes.
The full scientific burden is described in this NASA blog published a few weeks ago. Naturally, the Dragon capsule (this one also flew in August 2017, it should be noted) also contains food and other supplies. The first leg will come to the surface and attempt to land on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, which will sail in the Atlantic while waiting for his passenger.
The launch took place less than 24 hours after SpaceX published a statement regarding the explosion of a Crew Dragon capsule during tests. The cause of the "anomaly" has not yet been determined, but it is important to note that this is a platform completely different from the now proven and reliable Falcon 9 / Cargo Dragon combo. , which has done dozens of trade missions.
Takeoff is scheduled for 3:11 am Eastern Time at Cape Canaveral, with currents beginning about 45 minutes in advance – but chances are that tonight's launch will be erased due to bad weather.
"We have been watching a disturbed weather zone over the Bahamas for a few days and this disturbed weather zone is encroaching on the Space Coast," said Air Force launching weather officer Will Ulrich, in a report to The NASA. At present, there is about 40% chance of a successful launch.
This would be the second delay for CRS-17, which was postponed from May 1st to May 3rd at the end of April. Do not worry, the ISS crew has enough money to survive for a long time. The next launch opportunity would also be within 24 hours. We will update this article if the launch is permanently blocked.
If you want, you can watch the launch below:
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