2019
SPACE CENTER, FL – The first flightworthy
SpaceX Crew Dragon is ready to liftoff on what’s sure to be a spectacular
middle-of-the-night blastoff Saturday morning, March 2 in anticipation of her
critical maiden test flight after NASA and SpaceX managers completed the Launch
Readiness Review (LRR) and gave the “GO” for launch from the Florida Space Coast.
9/Crew Dragon stack stands some 215 feet tall (65 meter) looking positively
glorious this afternoon, Friday, March 1, at T MINUS 12 Hours – as I witnessed
the duo Up Close at historic Launch Complex-39A during our media opportunity to
set up remote cameras to capture the incredible event.
photo gallery of the Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft taken inside
the launch pad 39A perimeter fence as they stand poised for liftoff. Check back as the gallery expands.
Demo-1 (DM-1) mission is scheduled for 2:49 a.m. EST (0749 GMT) Saturday, March 2 from historic Launch
Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That moment coincides with
the time when Earth’s rotation carries the rocket into the plane
of the space station to enable a successful rendezvous and docking with the
fuel on board.
goal is truly sky high as America seeks to restore its capability to launch
humans to space in an American capsule launching on an American rocket from American
soil – a capability lost when NASA’s shuttles were forcibly retired in 2011.
raised vertical at sunset yesterday evening, Thursday, Feb. 28, pointing
gloriously to the heavens under angelic skies -as I observed from the KSC
Launch Complex 39A press site.
After liftoff the Demo-1 mission is bound for
the International Space Station (ISS).
The goal of Demo-1 is to carry out a fully
autonomous docking to the forward port on the station’s Harmony module some 30
hours after launch to fully simulate a flight with astronauts which will be carried
out on the next mission named Demo-2.
legs and four grid fins and will attempt to soft land on the “Of
Course I Still Love You” drone ship (OCISLY) drone ship
at sea in the Atlantic Ocean about 9.5 minutes after liftoff.
Here’s a link to my Fox News 35 Orlando
prelaunch interview about the do or die nature of the Demo-1 mission
of SpaceX Demo-1 mission at the Kennedy Space Center.
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
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC
area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space
topics.
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Learn more about the upcoming/recent ULA Delta 4 WGS, SpaceX Demo-1, Falcon 9 Nusantara Satu launch, USAF GPS 3-01, 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:
launch, SpaceX Falcon 9 Demo-1 and Nusantara Satu launch, Dragon CRS-16 resupply launch to ISS, SpaceX
Falcon GPS 3-01, 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
upcoming talks:
Mars; The Search for Life & A Journey in 3-D.” 7 PM, Lawton C
Johnson Middle School, Summit, NJ. Open to the public. Details upcoming.
Latest results from Mars & Ultima Thule
Super!!!!!