Monday, November 25, 2013

So Excited - Spacex Launch

Ok, so I was browsing the Spaceports blog and was excited to see that there was a launch scheduled this afternoon of a Falcon 9 rocket to GEO transfer orbit.  This is the next big step for SpaceX and I tuned in to see that the countdown was put on hold at T minus 6:11.  There appears to be a problem with the transfer to internal power.  So far they have not scrubbed the launch today as they have a 66 minute window in which they could launch and are only about 20 minutes into that window at this time.

They just made an announcement that they could recycle the count back to T minus 13:00 and restart and successfully launch yet today.  This essentially means they have about 30 minutes to troubleshoot and correct the issue to get this launched today.

UPDATE:  After approximately 11 minutes the countdown clock was recycled to 18:25 and after verifying all systems were ready, the count was restarted.  They are planning on stopping at T minus 13:00 if necessary.

UPDATE #2:  The count was held again at t minus 3:40.  Not sure what the issue was at that point, but appeared to be an issue with the first stage LOX as it vented a lot just before the hold.

UPDATE #3: Launch window for today has closed.  They will recycle and trouble shoot and hopefully try to launch again tomorrow.

UPDATE #4:  Nope, the launch was rescheduled for Thanksgiving day at 5:38 PM EST.