SpaceX is sending cargo to the International Space Station again, and you can watch the launch live via NASA's official stream.
The launch, officially called the CRS-19 Commercial Resupply Service mission, will be using SpaceX's Falcon 9 booster rocket. The rocket will be carrying the Dragon spacecraft, which will deliver packages to the ISS.
According to the NASA press release, the mission will bring "supplies and payloads, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science investigations and technology demonstrations that will occur during Expeditions 61 and 62."
The rocket is scheduled to take off from NASA's base at Cape Canaveral, Florida at the Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40. Launch time is scheduled to be at 9:51 A.M. Roughly 10 minutes after launch, where Dragon spacecraft will detach itself from the Falcon 9 rocket. It will then carefully move towards the ISS through a cautiously choreographed movement and firings of its thrusters.
On Dec. 7, once it is near the station, Expedition 61 Commander Luca Paramitano of the European Space Agency will guide the Dragon to its dock in the ISS. Fellow astronaut Andrew Morgan will serve as a backup, and astronaut Jessica Meir will be monitoring telemetry during the docking process. The Dragon will be installed on the bottom of the Harmony, one of the ISS's utility hub. It will be stationed on a port facing Earth. It is expected to remain there until January 4, 2020, where it will return to the Earth with research and return cargo.
The Dragon's Reliability
This will be SpaceX's 18th mission with the Dragon. All but one of the missions so far have been successful, with a Dragon capsule staying in the ISS for a month on average. The Dragon spacecraft has been touted for its reusability, cutting costs, and production needs. The first time the Dragon was reused was on June 3, 2017, when the same capsule used on September 21, 2014, mission was used.
In total, there have been seven different reuses of Dragon spacecraft, with the Dragon Capsule #C108 being reused the most. Its last flight was in the most recent Dragon mission launched last July 24. It marked the third time that a specific capsule was reused. It is unknown which Dragon capsule SpaceX is planning to use for the CRS-19 mission.
More Talks From NASA
Prior to the resupply launch, viewers can also tune in to NASA's official channel a day before to get a briefing on some of the research NASA has been doing. The briefing highlights some important research and the people leading them. Bryan Dansberry will share an overview of the benefits of the ISS. Michael Roberts will deliver an update on how industrialization is driven by microgravity research.
Ya-Ting Liao and Paul Ferkul will talk about how fire spreads in confined spaces. Andres Martinez will discuss communications in a satellite network in low-orbit Earth. Akira Iwasaki will talk about the next generation Earth Imaging System developed by the Japanese Government. And Se-Jin Lee and Emily Germain-Lee will talk about muscle and bone degradation during space flight and recovery of such following one's return to Earth.
