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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised
for liftoff on Dragon CRS-16 cargo ship mission to the ISS from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Dec. 5, 2018 at 1:16 pm EST. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Ken Kremer —SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM –5 December 2018
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –
After a race against time to replace moldy mouse bars for 40 rodents flying
to space, a new SpaceX Falcon 9 stands poised for liftoff at lunchtime today Dec.
5 with 3 tons of science and supplies loaded aboard a Dragon cargo ship bound
for the International Space Station from the Florida Space Coast.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 is now raised vertical at launch pad 40
on Cape Canaveral following a 24 hour delay to swap out the contaminated mouse
bars with new ones specially flown in from NASA’s Ames Research Center in California.
Check out our Space UpClose gallery of imagery taken of the
Falcon 9 standing tall at pad 40 this morning during our media remote camera
setups this morning.
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Up Close view of Dragon
CRS-16 cargo ship bolted atop SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised for liftoff on mission to the ISS from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Dec. 5, 2018 at 1:16 pm EST. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
The launch of SpaceX’s 16th commercial resupply
mission for NASA was postponed a day from Tuesday Dec 4 to Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 5 to remove and
replace the contaminated bars of mouse food.
But its aIl for the good because nasty sunshine state weather
likely would have postponed the launch anyway.
Blastoff of the new SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon CRS-16
commercial cargo freighter is now slated for Wednesday afternoon December 5 at 1:16 p.m. EST (1816 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in
Florida.
You can watch live on NASA TV at www.nasatv.gov www.nasatv.gov
SpaceX plans
to recover this Block 5 first stage with a thrilling soft landing back at the
Cape at Landing Zone 1 some eight minutes after liftoff.
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Up Close view of four
landing legs attached at bottom of first stage of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket poised for liftoff on Dragon CRS-16 cargo ship mission to the ISS from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Dec. 5, 2018 at 1:16 pm EST. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
A backup launch opportunity is available on
Friday, December 7 at 12:28 p.m. EST, or 1728 GMT.
loaded with nearly 3 tons of science and supplies for the newly expanded six person
Expedition 57 crew currently living and working aboard the ISS including the three
new crewmembers launched Dec. 3 on a Russian Soyuz rocket and spacecraft from
Baikonur.
Dragon will deliver supplies and payloads, including
materials to directly support dozens of the science and research investigations
that will occur during the space station’s Expeditions 57 and 58.
Highlights of the
payloads on board include:
The Robotic Refueling Mission 3, or RRM3, to test
refueling techniques in microgravity and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation lidar,
or GEDI for global forest measurement, the Rodent Research experiment looking
into the aging process and crystallization experiments to aid in finding a cure
or Parkinson’s disease.
Watch for Ken’s
continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop
Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center,
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility,
Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science
and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter
@ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
SpaceX Falcon 9/CRS-16 launch to ISS, NASA missions, ULA Atlas & Delta
launches, SpySats and more at Ken’s upcoming outreach events at Quality Inn Kennedy Space Center, Titusville,
FL, evenings:
5: “SpaceX Dragon CRS-16
resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX Falcon Heavy & Falcon 9 launches, upcoming SpaceX
Falcon 9 USAF GP3 3-01, NRO & USAF Spysats, SLS, Orion, Boeing and SpaceX Commercial
crew capsules, OSIRIS-Rex, Juno at Jupiter, InSight Mars lander, Curiosity and
Opportunity explore Mars, NH at Pluto, Kuiper Belt and more,” Kennedy Space
Center Quality Inn, Titusville, FL, evenings.
Photos for sale
