Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of NASA’s Crew 4 mission. The Crew 4 mission will carry astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines, Samantha Cristoforetti and Jessica Watkins to the International Space Station. follow us on Twitter.
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Four astronauts will strap themselves into their seats on SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft and fly into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday to begin a 16-hour chase for the International Space Station. Launch from Pad 39A is scheduled for 03:52 EDT (07:52 GMT).
Kjell Lindgren, a 141-day veteran in orbit on a previous flight, is commanding the Crew 4 mission to the space station. Pilot Bob Hines and Mission Specialist Jessica Watkins, both spaceflight rookies, will join Lindgren for the mission. The astronaut from the European Space Agency completes the crew.
The crew of four is regarding to embark on a nearly five-month mission to the space station, conducting experiments and maintenance, conducting spacewalks, and continuing nearly 22 years of uninterrupted human presence at the orbiting outpost.
The mission is SpaceX’s seventh astronaut launch since the first Dragon flight to transport people. This is the SpaceX crew’s fourth rotational flight for NASA under a multi-billion dollar contract.
The astronauts spent last week at Kennedy Space Center undergoing final training and flight preparations and spending time with family ahead of their months-long off-planet expedition.
“I plan to take a very long luxurious shower on the last day before launch,” said Cristoforetti, an Italian-born aviator who is ready for her second trip into space.
Assuming launch occurs on Wednesday morning, the Crew-4 astronauts are expected to arrive at the station for docking at 8:15 p.m. EDT (Thursday 0015 GMT) on Wednesday.
Lindgren, Hines, Cristoforetti, and Watkins receive briefings from the four astronauts they replace on the station.
The flight schedule calls for a minimum five-day transfer between incoming Crew-4 astronauts and departing Crew-3 astronauts, who are expected to depart the station around May 4 and land off Florida by May 5. Completion of their almost six-month mission.
Commander Raja Chari, Pilot Tom Marshburn, and Mission Specialists Matthias Maurer and Kayla Barron launched the Crew 3 mission last November. They will return SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft to Earth, leaving the Crew 4 astronauts on station with three Russian cosmonaut crewmates.
The Dragon Freedom spacecraft is the fourth and likely last human-legal vehicle to join SpaceX’s fleet of reusable Dragon capsules. It joins Dragon Endeavor, Dragon Resilience and Dragon Endurance in the company’s portfolio.
The Crew 4 mission will launch on a Falcon 9 booster, tail number B0167, which has flown on three previous missions. The carrier stage was first launched on Jun 3 on a space station cargo mission and then flew once more on Nov 10 on the Crew 3 mission. Most recently, the booster was launched on December 18 with the Turksat 5B communications satellite.
There is a 90 percent chance of acceptable weather at Kennedy Space Center for Wednesday morning’s launch and a low to moderate risk of poor conditions along the Falcon 9 ascent corridor heading northeast over the Atlantic. SpaceX is monitoring conditions downstream to ensure the weather and sea conditions are safe for a Dragon spacecraft to splash down in the event of an in-flight abort caused by a rocket failure.
The rocket’s first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone, stationed regarding 545 kilometers downstream from the launch pad in the Atlantic.
Read ours Mission preview story for details on the launch of Crew-4.
ROCKET: Falke 9 (B1067.4)
PAYLOAD: Crew Dragon Freedom on the Crew 4 mission
STARTING PLACE: LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
RELEASE DATE: 27. April 2022
START TIME: 03:52:55 EDT (07:52:55 GMT)
STARTING WINDOW: Right away
WEATHER FORECAST: 90% chance of acceptable weather conditions
BOOSTER RECOVERY: Drone Ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas”
AZIMUTH STARTEN: Northeast
TARGET ORBIT: Approximately 130 by 143 miles (210 by 230 kilometers); Inclination 51.6 degrees from the equator
DOCKING WITH THE ISS: 8:15 p.m. EDT Wednesday, April 27 (0015 GMT Thursday, April 28)
LANDING DATE: September 2022
START SCHEDULE:
- T+00:00: Start
- T+01:02: Maximum air pressure (Max-Q)
- T+02:36: First stage main engine shutdown (MECO)
- T+02:39: Stage separation
- T+02:40: Second stage engine ignition
- T+07:28: First stage intake ignition (three engines)
- T+08:48: Second stage engine shutdown (SECO 1)
- T+09:02: First stage landing burn (one engine)
- T+09:30: First stage landing
- T+11:58: separation from the dragon
- T+12:46: The Dragon’s Nose Cone opening sequence begins
MISSION STATISTICS:
- 150th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010
- 158th launch of the Falcon rocket family since 2006
- 4. Start des Falcon 9-Boosters B1067
- Launch of the 131st Falcon 9 from the Space Coast of Florida
- 141. Overall start from Pad 39A
- SpaceX’s 47th launch overall from Pad 39A
- 93. Flight of a repurposed Falcon 9 booster
- 7. SpaceX launch with people on board
- 4. Operational Crew Mission for NASA
- First flight of the Dragon Freedom spacecraft
- 9. Flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft
- Launch of the 16th Falcon 9 in 2022
- 16. SpaceX launch in 2022
- 16. Orbital launch from Cape Canaveral in 2022
