An unmanned cargo capsule built by SpaceX under a $1.6 billion commercial contract with NASA was prepared for launch Sunday on its first operational flight to the International Space Station, a milestone mission intended to restore the agency's ability to deliver critical components and supplies to the lab complex and to bring hardware and experiment samples back to Earth.
The Dragon capsule, perched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, was scheduled for liftoff from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:35 p.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth's rotation carries the pad into the plane of the space station's orbit. Forecasters predicted a 60 percent chance of acceptable weather, improving to 80 percent "go" Monday and Tuesday.
During a test flight in May, a SpaceX Dragon capsule successfully rendezvoused with the International Space Station. The first operational cargo flight of a SpaceX capsule is scheduled for launch Sunday.
(Credit: SpaceX )
Launched into an initially elliptical orbit with a high point of 202 miles and a low point of around 124 miles, the solar-powered spacecraft will carry out a complex computer-orchestrated series of rendezvous rocket firings to catch up with the space station early Wednesday.
If all goes well, station commander Sunita Williams and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide will use the lab's robot arm to grapple the Dragon capsule ... [Read more]
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