{"id":13202,"date":"2019-05-03T19:28:49","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T11:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/falcon-9-launch-scrubbed-by-problem-on-landing-ship\/"},"modified":"2019-05-03T19:28:49","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T11:28:49","slug":"falcon-9-launch-scrubbed-by-problem-on-landing-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/falcon-9-launch-scrubbed-by-problem-on-landing-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by problem on landing ship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
File photo of SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cOf Course I Still Love You.\u201d Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An electrical problem on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship parked just off the coast of Cape Canaveral prompted SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt early Friday, delaying the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station by 24 hours.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 countdown halted around 14 minutes prior to the rocket\u2019s appointed launch time at 3:11 a.m. EDT (0711 GMT) Friday. SpaceX\u2019s launch director announced over the countdown net that the company\u2019s drone ship \u2014 the landing vessel where the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage will attempt to land offshore \u2014 was unable to maintain power.<\/p>\n

SpaceX was also evaluating a helium leak in a quick-disconnect interface at the launch pad, but officials cited the drone ship issue as the reason for Friday\u2019s scrubbed launch attempt.<\/p>\n

Teams lowered the Falcon 9 rocket horizontal to address the helium leak, while the football field-sized drone ship returned to Port Canaveral later Friday morning, presumably for servicing of the vessel\u2019s electrical power system.<\/p>\n

The drone ship, named \u201cOf Course I Still Love You,\u201d departed Port Canaveral a few hours later Friday afternoon to head back to the Falcon 9 booster\u2019s targeted landing site 17 miles (28 kilometers) southeast of the rocket\u2019s launch pad, or roughly due east of the easternmost point of Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n

A new launch attempt is scheduled for 2:48:58 a.m. EDT (0648:58 GMT) Saturday to begin a cargo resupply mission set to deliver 5,472 pounds (2,482 kilograms) of logistics, equipment and experiments to the International Space Station and its six-person crew.<\/p>\n

With the one-day delay in the launch, the Dragon supply ship mounted atop the Falcon 9 rocket will reach the space station early Monday, not on Sunday as previously planned.<\/p>\n

There is a 70 percent chance of favorable weather for Saturday\u2019s predawn launch attempt, which is expected to the last launch opportunity available at Cape Canaveral until no earlier than May 12.<\/p>\n

The Air Force-run Eastern Range, which provides range safety, support and security services for launches at Cape Canaveral, is unavailable due to a \u201cstand-down\u201d next week, according to Kenny Todd, NASA\u2019s space station operations and integration manager.<\/p>\n

\"\"
SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft are vertical at Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the first time, SpaceX scrubs a launch to ensure first stage recovery<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

SpaceX prefers to land its first stages and reuse the hardware, a practice it says reduces costs and eases the cadence of rocket production at the company\u2019s headquarters in Hawthorne, California.<\/p>\n

But SpaceX has given up on landing its Falcon 9 boosters before, most recently on a mission last year. Bad weather and rough seas prevented SpaceX\u2019s drone ship from reaching a distant offshore landing site in the Atlantic Ocean for a launch in March 2018 carrying the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite.<\/p>\n

SpaceX elected to proceed with the launch without recovering the first stage booster.<\/p>\n

The landing location for the Falcon 9\u2019s first stage on Saturday\u2019s mission is unusual. Most resupply missions to the space station do not use the full capability of SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket, leaving ample leftover propellant for the first stage to reverse course and return to Cape Canaveral for an onshore landing.<\/p>\n

But SpaceX\u2019s Landing Zone 1, located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, is unavailable for this launch after the explosion April 20 of SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon capsule during a ground test. Parts of the landing zone are still off-limits for safety reasons, according to Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX\u2019s vice president of build and flight reliability.<\/p>\n

For heavier missions that require more of a boost from the first stage, SpaceX typically positions the drone ship hundreds of miles offshore, allowing the rocket to arc on a ballistic trajectory downrange, then slow down for landing without having to return to Florida.<\/p>\n

The parking spot for the drone ship just off Florida\u2019s Space Coast allows the Falcon 9 first stage to follow a return profile similar to the one originally planned to bring the booster back to Landing Zone 1.<\/p>\n

A \u201cclose-in\u201d drone ship landing has been accomplished before after a launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in December.<\/p>\n

Weather permitting, the timing of the Falcon 9\u2019s launch in the predawn hours \u2014 due to the location of the space station\u2019s orbit relative to the launch site \u2014 should allow observers along the beaches near Cape Canaveral to see the first stage descend toward the drone ship as it lights its engines for a series of boost-back, re-entry and landing burns.<\/p>\n

Spectators may also hear sonic booms during the descent.<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cOf Course I Still Love You.\u201d Credit: SpaceX An electrical problem on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship parked just off the coast of Cape Canaveral prompted SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt early Friday, delaying the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station by 24 hours. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,1736,1395,1573,2613,479,717,1602],"class_list":["post-13202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-complex-40","tag-dragon","tag-drone-ship","tag-expedition-59","tag-falcon-9","tag-international-space-station","tag-iss-cargo"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}