Lift Off Time (Subject to change) |
December 5th, 2018 18:16 UTC (1:16 PM EST) |
|---|---|
Mission Name and what it is |
CRS 16 – Dragon cargo resupply to the ISS |
Launch Provider (What rocket company is launching it?) |
SpaceX |
Customer (who’s paying for this?) |
NASA |
Rocket |
Falcon 9 (Block 5) Serial Number B1050.1 |
Launch Location |
Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station |
Payload mass |
1,598 kg (3,523 lb) Pressurized + 975 kg (2,150 lb) Unpressurized = 2,573 kg (5,673 lb) Total |
Where’s the Dragon going? |
International Space Station |
Will they be attempting to recover the first stage? |
Yes |
Where will the first stage land? |
Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) |
Will they be attempting to recover the fairing? |
No. The Dragon is not enclosed in a fairing |
Will they be attempting to recover the second stage? |
No. Per Elon’s tweet on Nov. 17, the second stage will not be upgraded for reusability |
This will be the: |
65th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, 20th mission for SpaceX in 2018, 33rd successfully landed core |
Where to watch |
SpaceX official Stream
Maybe for even more fun you can watch with the Everyday Astronaut starting at T minus 30! Come ask questions and join the conversation live! |
Image by Geoff Barrett
What’s all this mean?
NASA is paying SpaceX to launch a Dragon on a resupply mission to the International Space Station. In February of 2016, NASA extended the CRS-1 contract with SpaceX to include 5 additional resupply missions. CRS-16 is the first of those five.
This Dragon capsule is making its second flight to the ISS. It was used previously on CRS-1010 mission, which launched on February 19, 2017 and was recovered after splash down on March 19, 2017.
Dragon will be launched on new Falcon 9 block 5 booster (B1050.1) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
After stage separation, the booster will be making a return to launch site landing at Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1).
Dragon will be carrying supplies for the crew and various hardware including a new External High Definition Camera (EHDC) Assembly and 2 NORS O2 Recharge Tanks to support future spacewalks.
Science experiments on board include:
- The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) will be attached to the Japanese Experiment Module’s Exposed Facility and use laser ranging to observe the vertical structure of forests at a global scale.
- The Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) will be used to demonstrate the transfer and storage of liquid methane in microgravity.
- The Perfect Crystals experiment will grow manganese superoxide dismutase crystals to better understand how this antioxidant protein protects from oxidizing radiation.
Dragon will remain at the ISS until January. It will then unberth from the station and return to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
If you happen to be in the area, here’s where you can watch in person!
Tim Dodd, the Everyday Astronaut, will be livestreaming this launch starting at T minus 30 minutes. So come ask questions and join the conversation live! If you want the best way to know when a launch is coming, download the SpaceXNow OR Launch Alarm apps to stay in the know!
2 Comments
Could you please include the number of times a particular 1st stage booster has already flown in those preflights? Would be quite interesting to see this progress.
Although not obvious it’s already there as part of the serial number: B1050.1
The “.1” means this is the first time it’s flown.