KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.--SpaceX engineers have cleared the company's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule for another try tomorrow to kick off NASA's first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
The engineers replaced a suspect valve in an engine that triggered a last-second launch abort Saturday and carried out a data review to make sure there were no other problems, clearing the way for a second attempt.
With forecasters predicting an 80 percent chance of good weather, the 178-foot-tall Falcon 9 is scheduled for liftoff from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 3:44:38 a.m. EDT.
SpaceX is readying its Falcon 9 rocket for a second launch attempt Tuesday to send the company's Dragon cargo ship on a commercial flight to the International Space Station.
(Credit: SpaceX)
As with Saturday's aborted countdown, the flight control team must launch the rocket on time, directly into the plane of the space station's orbit, to pull off the long-awaited rendezvous and docking. If the countdown is interrupted or held up for any reason, the flight will slip to Friday.
This will be SpaceX's second Dragon test flight -- the third for the Falcon 9 rocket -- but the first to go all the way to the International Space Station. SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to launch at least 12 unmanned cargo missions to the lab complex, but... [Read more]
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