NASA and SpaceX are preparing to send a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) as early as this week, weather permitting.
On Monday (February 9), mission managers adjusted the target date. Crew-12 launch Wednesday (February 11) will be delayed by at least one day due to expected inclement weather. Thursday’s (February 12) launch, if cleared, is scheduled to take place from Space Launch Complex-40 at 5:38 a.m. EDT (10:38 GMT). Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
“When we did that, we saw strong winds of up to 24 to 28 knots on many parts of that course. [27.6 to 32.2 mph]Especially in the staging area, which we consider to be a high-risk area,” Steve Stitch, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, said at a NASA press conference on Monday. kennedy space center (KSC) is located next to the Space Force base. “A low pressure system moves in and sinks over that staging area, and that’s picking up the wind.”
The forecast improves slightly on Thursday, but it will be reevaluated on Tuesday (February 10) and the release date could change again, Stich said.
There is only one technical issue the team is working on, and that is communication issues between the Crew Dragon capsule Freedom and launch support team members.
“Otherwise, I think the vehicles are ready, the crews are ready, the ground systems are ready and we just have to wait and see what the weather is like,” Stich said. “We’ll leave when you’re ready.”
Crew-12 will return the ISS to its regular seven-astronaut crew. The rotating laboratory is 3 skeleton crew Since mid-January, when the Crew-11 mission departed a month early. First ever medical evacuation From ISS.
busy range
Perhaps complicating matters further are other launches and tests pending at the Cape.
On Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B, NASA engineers continue to troubleshoot. hydrogen leak and other issues seen during the “wet dress rehearsal” (WDR) space launch system rocket and artemis 2 moon mission. The program is working towards conducting another WDR before setting a new Artemis 2 launch date in early March.
“We haven’t seen any clashes this week, but we are in constant dialogue with them,” Stich said. “They’ve made progress in replacing some of the seals and are doing some testing on those seals.”
More pressing is the United Launch Alliance’s next launch. vulcan rocket About the mission of space force. The launch is scheduled for 3:20 a.m. EDT (8:20 GMT) Thursday from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
“if, [abort] The weather doesn’t seem to be very good [for Dragon]we would potentially give up the 12th in order to let them fly,” Stich said.
bear down
Meanwhile, at Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A, SpaceX is working to remove and lower the access arm that allowed it to support manned flights in the field. falcon 9 mission. Crew-12 is only the second manned spaceflight launched from SLC-41.
In response to questions from Space.com, Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of manufacturing and flight reliability, said, “We will be performing maintenance on some of the bearings that support the crew arms.” “You have to physically lower the arm to get to the bearings. These bearings actually hold the arm to the tower.”
“They are unique to the 39A. They are very different from those on the SLC-40’s arms, and to physically access them you have to remove the arms. Those bearings have to be removed and they have to be reinstalled,” Gerstenmeyer said.
Once the work is complete, the arm will remain on the ground, but it can be reinstalled if NASA wants to launch crews from 39A. Otherwise, SpaceX plans to reserve Kennedy Pad and launch Falcon 9 rockets from the Cape. falcon heavy and the future starship flight.
“You don’t have to raise your arm again, because you have plenty of time when you’re called to a mission. It’s easy to raise your arm,” Gerstenmayer said.