Privately-owned aerospace company SpaceX is set to launch Monday with a cargo that includes a super-computer intended to assist a human trip to Mars in the future.
During CRS-12, The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo module are scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 12:31 pm.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 is expected to return to Earth as part of SpaceX’s reuse strategy.
The resupply vehicle will then meet up with the International Space Station on August 16th when the crew
The Dragon module will deliver food, experiments, and a Hewlett-Packard computer which will be tested over the course of a year.
SpaceX CRS-12 is the twelfth of up to 20 missions to the International Space Station that SpaceX will fly for NASA under the first CRS contract. In January 2016, NASA announced that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft were selected to resupply the space station through 2024 as part of a second Commercial Resupply Services contract award. Under the CRS contracts, SpaceX has restored an American capability to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo, including live plants and animals, to and from the orbiting laboratory. A variant of the Dragon spacecraft, called Dragon 2, is being developed for U.S.-based crew transport to and from the space station.
The supercomputer aims to provide “sophisticated onboard computing resources that are capable of extended periods of uptime,” HPE senior vice president Alain Andreoli said in a statement.
COUNTDOWN
Hour/Min/Sec Events
– 01:03:00 Launch Conductor takes launch readiness poll
– 01:00:00 RP-1 (rocket grade kerosene) loading underway
– 00:35:00 LOX (liquid oxygen) loading underway
– 00:07:00 Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch
– 00:01:00 Command flight computer to begin final prelaunch checks
– 00:01:00 Propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins
– 00:00:45 SpaceX Launch Director verifies go for launch
– 00:00:03 Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start
00:00:00 Falcon 9 liftoff
LAUNCH, LANDING AND DRAGON DEPLOYMENT
Hour/Min/Sec Events
00:01:08 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:25 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:28 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:36 2nd stage engine starts
00:02:41 1st stage boostback burn begins
00:06:09 1st stage entry burn begins
00:07:43 1st stage landing
00:09:14 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO)
00:10:14 Dragon separates from 2nd stage
00:11:00 Dragon’s solar arrays deploy
02:20:00 Dragon’s Guidance, Navigation and Control bay door opens
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