December 09, 2023 21:04 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Karnataka HC grants bail to accused in Gauri Lankesh case | RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.5%, raises FY24 growth forecast to 7% | India's Aditya-L1 Mission captures first-ever full-disk image of Sun | RBI raises UPI transaction limit for hospitals, educational institutions to Rs. 5 lakh | Former Telangana CM KCR suffers hip injury

Launch of SpaceX's fifth commercial resupply services mission on Jan 6: NASA

India Blooms News Service | | 18 Dec 2014, 11:04 pm
California, Dec 18 (IBNS) NASA and SpaceX on Thursday announced the launch of SpaceX's fifth commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station now will occur no earlier than Jan. 6.

The new launch date will provide SpaceX engineers time to investigate further issues that arose from a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket on Dec. 16 and will avoid beta angle constraints for berthing the Dragon cargo ship to the station that exist through the end of the year.

A beta angle is the position of the sun relative to mechanical structures on the space station. During the time of high beta angles, which run from Dec. 28 through Jan. 7, thermal and operational constraints prohibit Dragon from berthing to the station.

Space station managers will meet Monday, Jan. 5, for a readiness review in advance of the launch attempt Jan. 6. The launch postponement has no impact on the station's crew or its complement of food, fuel and supplies and will not affect the science being delivered to the crew once Dragon arrives at the station.

The launch is scheduled at approximately 6:18 a.m. EST. NASA Television coverage will begin at 5 a.m.

A backup launch attempt is available Wednesday, Jan. 7.

A launch on Jan. 6 will result in a rendezvous and grapple of Dragon Thursday, Jan. 8, at approximately 6 a.m. NASA TV coverage will begin at 4:30 a.m. Installation coverage will begin at 9 a.m.