LIVE: SpaceX Launches Dragon Cargo Mission to International Space Station

Continuing scientific discovery aboard the International Space Station is enabled by missions like today. And as you mentioned, Dragon is carrying over 6,000 pounds of cargo, including critical science hardware and samples. The science aboard Dragon represents months, and in some cases years, of preparation by dedicated scientists and engineers. And here are some of the highlights of what's inside Dragon today. The Odyssey research investigation evaluates how well Earth-based microgravity simulators recreate space conditions. Researchers will examine bacterial behavior in space and compare the results to experiments conducted in microgravity simulators on Earth. Another investigation we're looking forward to learning more about is STORI. The STORI behind STORI is an instrument that monitors charged particles in orbit around the Earth. These particles respond to space weather and can impact human assets like power grids and satellites. STORI could help researchers gain knowledge to better predict and respond to these changes. Laplace studies the movement and collision of dust particles in microgravity to understand particle motion in space and other atmospheres. Researchers hope to learn more about Earth's origins and provide fundamental understanding of how these planets in our solar system came to be in existence. The Green Bone investigation observes how bone cells grow and develop on a bone scaffold that is actually made from wood and it'll be in space. Microgravity results could help researchers improve products that treat fragile bone conditions such as osteoporosis. The SPARC investigation is how red blood cells and the spleen change in space. Researchers will observe human samples and imagery taken before, during, and after spaceflight to identify ways to protect astronaut health during long-duration space missions. And these are just some of the incredible research flying to the International Space Station aboard today's mission and you can find out more at nasa.gov slash iss dash science. Now in addition to this incredible research this mission is carrying several bulk overwrapped bags or here at NASA we call them bobs delivering a mix of standard and crew specific shelf stable and fresh food items to support crew health and morale on orbit. Now these items include standard and crew requested items that include taco kits, chocolate, and cereals along with fresh foods such as apples, tomatoes, and baby carrots. Now as we approach t-minus 11 minutes left in the countdown keeping an eye on the fueling we heard earlier that the stage 2 rp1 load had been completed and we're looking at possibly stage 1 rp1 loading of about 90 percent full and looking at liquid oxygen which is also underway for both the first and the second stages. For the first stage they're about 83 percent of the way there and for the second stage about 40 percent or so. Now as we get closer to liftoff let's check back in with our colleagues in Hawthorne and Ronnie Korman. Everything is still looking great here on the mission control side of things for SpaceX. Right now we are standing by oh just about 10 and a half minutes until our liftoff for a couple of key call outs from mission control and visual indicators that we are getting ever closer to liftoff. At about t-minus seven minutes you'll hear a call out for engine chill. That's when we'll open the engine pre-valves and start passing just a trickle of liquid oxygen through the merlin engine pumps chilling those engines down through the start sequence. We do that because the super chilled and densified liquid oxygen is really really cold and we use that process to bring all of the engine hardware down to a cooler temperature before flowing all of the locks and rp1 into it during flight. Engine chill specifically helps to prevent thermal shock and ensures nominal engine performance on liftoff and all the way through ascent. We're going to keep listening in for all of these updates from mission control but in the meantime let's check back in with NASA again. Joseph. Thank you Ronnie greatly appreciate it and yes certainly looking forward to it as we're now approaching nine and a half minutes until liftoff of NASA SpaceX's 34th Commercial Resupply Services mission heading towards the International Space Station which is a perfect opportunity to introduce you to the Expedition 74 crew and we mentioned earlier that includes NASA astronauts Chris Williams, Jess Kamir and Jack Hathaway. They're also joined alongside by Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov who is the station commander Sergey Mikheyev and Andrey Fadeyev. Also joining them on board the International Space Station is ESA astronaut Now on tap for docking as the Dragon spacecraft makes its way closer and closer to station it will be Hathaway of NASA and Adno of ESA that will be monitoring the Dragon spacecraft as it gets closer and closer to the orbiting laboratory. Now for Chris Williams, Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Mikheyev they would arrive on station last November on Thanksgiving November 27th and are now entering or moving through their 169th day in space and for Jess Kamir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adno and Andrey Fadeyev they would launch back on February 13th aboard Dragon Freedom as a part of crew 12 and are moving through their 91st day in space. Well as we get closer and closer to engine tilt taking a look at the updated fueling it looks like the stage one rp1 load is about to wrap up about 90 percent of the way there for the liquid oxygen of station of the first stage and about 60 percent for the stage two liquid oxygen but for now as we get closer and closer to as Ronnie mentioned engine chill and we continue to progress in the countdown now reaching eight minutes to go until liftoff back to Ronnie Foreman in Hawthorne. So as I mentioned earlier now we are standing by for some of those key call outs and visual indicators that we are getting closer to our t0 time. The next major visual milestone we're going to get is actually about the transporter erector which is the tall trussed structure standing to the side of Falcon 9. You've got a view of it there on the right hand side of your screen and again we have LZ40 over there on the left. Those two clamp arms up at the base of stage two are used to stabilize Falcon 9 during our propellant loading which again began at about t minus 35 minutes. The te which again is that large trussed piece on the right hand side is used both to roll Falcon 9 out to the pad and then raise it into the vertical launch position. It stays connected through the final seconds of the launch countdown. We will see those stabilizing clamp arms open up around the second stage and chill has started at about t minus four minutes and 17 seconds but there we did just get that announcement from mission control that engine chill has begun. Fun fact the super chilled liquid oxygen on board Falcon 9 is at about 300 degrees below zero. Everything is still looking good for an on-time liftoff just under six and a half minutes from now and we are still tracking 95 percent one rp1 load is complete 95 percent favorable launch weather conditions at our t0 time and we did just hear the confirmation that rp1 has been fully loaded onto stage one. Right now we are just about two minutes away from those clamp arms opening up around the second stage. As I mentioned before those clamps help to stabilize the rocket during fueling. They also prevent movement in high winds but once they're open the rocket will be fully free at the top. Then we will also hear that key call out from mission control that our tanks are pressurizing for strong back retract which is one of the things that helps Falcon 9 stand freely on the path. When we do see those clamp arms start to open up that'll take about 15 seconds for them to fully move away from Falcon 9 and then our strong back will also retract slightly. At our liftoff time though the strong back will kick back a full 45 degrees away from Falcon 9 enabling it to clear the launch pad. Falcon 9 tanks are pressing for the start of strong back retract. There's that confirmation that Falcon 9 is getting ready for strong back retraction. A really great view of those hypersonic grid fins at the base of the interstage on your screen right now. Those are the primary mechanical terminal count and is on internal power. There's confirmation that our system is on internal power and we are heading into the final five minutes before liftoff. There you can see those clamp arms starting to open up and we should see some movement and three minutes to go before liftoff. We're wishing to report the range is also green to support today's launch. Now if for some reason we do not launch today we do have a backup opportunity that'll be tomorrow Saturday May 16th at 5 43 p.m eastern time but right now all systems tracking well as we continue to monitor the final progress of fueling and getting ready for liftoff. We're going to continue listening in over the countdown nets and the next thing we're expecting is stage one lock float. Stage one lock float is complete. Right on schedule. The second stage should now finish up about a minute after that. Our tanks are also pressurized using helium. That helium is chilled too so that it stays compatible with the cryogenic plumbing on board Falcon 9. During flight that helium pressurization helps force propellant into the engines as the tanks empty. In these last few minutes Falcon 9 is performing final health checks on its primary communications avionics and propulsion systems in preparation for flight. We may hear some more call outs that the engines are sufficiently chilled as we get a little closer to liftoff and again we are standing by for another fuel loading completion call in about 20 seconds. It's time the second stage thrust vector control actuators are being tested and checked out and this is when SpaceX moves the nozzle ever so slightly to make sure that guidance hardware is acceptable for flight. In about two minutes at the time of launch the International Space Station off the southern coast of Australia as we hear that stage two locks load is complete and Falcon 9 is now fully fueled. The first and second stages are now fully loaded with over one million pounds of rocket grade rocket grade kerosene is now dragging moving into auto idle coming up on a countdown now auto idle puts the rocket in a state where the flight computers can understand before it takes off. Now we are standing by for the t minus 16 second call out that Falcon 9 has entered startup mode. At that point the rocket's onboard flight computers will have taken over from there on out the countdown will be fully autonomous. Falcon 9 has entered startup. There's confirmation of startup mode for Falcon 9 and countdown for Dragon. Our last milestone here is that our launch director calls go for liftoff. LD go for launch. There we have it just inside of t minus two seconds the nine Merlin 1D engines on the Falcon 9 first stage will ignite. Once they're at full power Falcon 9 will lift off the pad and begin its climb to orbit. Listen in for these final 30 seconds t minus 15 seconds t minus 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ignition and liftoff. Supplies is on its way to the International Space Station. Everything is looking good on board Falcon 9 and with our Dragon spacecraft. We heard those call outs for mission control that the rocket is pitching down range and that all nine engines continue to perform well. We're just about to throttle down the engines to prepare for max q the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure during ascent. Max q happens when the combination of speed and supersonic and air pressure put the greatest stress on the vehicle and with that call out for mission control we know that Falcon 9 is moving faster than the speed of sound. Max q. There's that call out for max q. Now coming up there are going to be several major events that happen back to back really quickly. Main engine cutoff, stage separation, first stage flip, second engine start, and boost back burn start. Main engine cutoff will likely be called out as MECO. That's when all nine engines on the first stage shut down. That'll be followed by stage section. There's that call out for mvac chill on board the second stage. Of course before we can start the second stage we do have to separate those two stages. The first and second stage will be separated and pushed apart from one another when we hear the call out for stage set. Then the first stage will flip around using small thrusters so it can head back to earth. A few seconds later we'll light that second stage mvac engine and continue pushing dragon to orbit. After all of that is done the first stage will perform its boost back burn to steer itself back toward the landing site. Main engine cutoff. Stage separation confirmed. Mvac startup. Great views on your screen there as you heard and hopefully saw all of those key events taking place. Main engine cutoff, stage separation, stage one flip which is happening on the left-hand side of your screen, second engine start on the right-hand side of your screen, and the beginning of our boost back burn. Now coming up shortly we should hear the call out for completion of the boost back burn on the first stage. This burn helps to steer the booster back toward the landing site and is the first of three burns the first stage performs on its return to LZ-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. We are expecting that call out in just about five seconds. Stage one boost back shutdown. And once again thank you for joining us as you continue to follow along with NASA's SpaceX 34th commercial resupply services mission. Now three minutes and a little more than a half into today's flight takes about nine and a half minutes to get into orbit and all engine on the right continue its chase to the orbiting laboratory and there you can see that stage one making its return back to earth on the left-hand side. We had an on-time liftoff at 6 0 5 p.m eastern time from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Now in order to make the left side stage one make its return back to earth a couple things have to happen two more burns to execute the entry burn where three of the engines will reignite and this helps slow the stage down as it re-enters the upper part of earth's atmosphere and following the entry burn the booster will go through its landing burn. And this is a single engine burn that brings the vehicle speed down rapidly in order to land back on earth and we should be hearing those call outs for that entry burn in just a couple of moments from now. That's right Joseph we are standing by for our entry burn which should we're expecting to begin at about t plus six minutes and 10 seconds. Now during that entry burn Falcon 9 is decelerating by firing its Merlin engines but the vehicle is still moving really fast this causes it to fly through Merlin's exhaust gases which are also known as the rocket's plume that deposits a layer of soot on the vehicle surface which is why our flight proven rockets look the way that they do. The soot comes from the carbon-based fuel that Falcon 9 uses and with each flight that soot builds up a little more on the outside of the vehicle. We also heard that call out from mission control just a few moments ago that both vehicles are on nominal trajectories. You can follow the trajectories along at home in the bottom corners of your screen. We have stage one on the left and stage two on the right. Now five and a half minutes into flight there's still a little a few more moments to go as we continue to follow along the path of NASA's SpaceX CRS 34th commercial resupply services mission and there you can see a great view of stage one on the left hand side the grid fins that Ronnie brought up earlier in the broadcast just ahead of launch. Falcon 9 is equipped with four hypersonic grid fins which are positioned on the top of the first stage and are used and used for steering as it returns to earth as you heard the start of that entry burn for the first stage and those grid fins are a critical part of Falcon 9's reusability system. So entry burn just completed as it shut down now we'll look for that landing burn as it continues to make its return back to earth and will begin its descent to landing zone 40 today and on the right hand side continuing to track the path of the second stage in which on top of that second stage making its way into orbit now six and a half minutes into today's flight. Now again moments away from entry burn we should see the stage one light back up as it will rapidly decelerate in preparation at landing zone 40 and milestones continuing to check off for the stage one as it makes its return back to earth and we'll keep an ear out for that entry burn start up an entry burn shade on landing burn we should get some great visuals off the landing burn now underway and that's the single engine that slows down stage one rapidly ahead of touching down back on the coastline stage one landing confirmed and great visualizations there is stage one has successfully returned back to landing zone 40 that's now seven and a half minutes into today's flight we still have about a minute to go a little less than that for stage two behind me that is another successful landing of our falcon 9 rocket this was the sixth launch and landing for this first stage now coming up in just over 30 seconds we should hear a call out for second engine cut off one or cico one which is when the mvac engine on board the second stage shuts down that'll conclude the roughly six minute burn by this engine needed to get dragon into the proper orbit to align with international space station stage two ftsa stage two terminal guidance just about 10 seconds until we should hear that cico one call mvac shutdown and then there's confirmation of mvac shutdown on board our second stage now we are just standing by for confirmation of a good orbital stage two nominal orbit insertion and we have confirmation there of a good orbit from mission control the stage two vehicle is now in coasting with dragon attached and we're about a minute away from spacecraft separation and we're seeing a great view of that second stage that merlin vacuum engine has shut down and we'll continue to await that separation for dragon to continue its journey on towards the international space station again carrying 6 500 pounds of critical cargo science and supplies to the orbiting laboratory got a great visual there on your left hand we're getting some great views up in space as dragon is slowly drifting away from our second stage which you've got that full view of the mvac engine on your screen right now and we have confirmed spacecraft separation confirmed right on schedule so to recap today's mission so far we did have an on-time liftoff at 6 0 5 p.m eastern time everything proceeded nominally up to that point at two and a half minutes into flight we saw separation of the first and second stages right on schedule which was followed by the successful landing of falcon 9's first stage at landings on 40 at cape canaveral space force station at about team t plus 8 minutes and 30 seconds we had a successful second engine cutoff or cico one which was followed by confirmation of good orbital insertion dragon then successfully separated from the second stage and we are now standing by for nose cone deployment i'll be handing back over to joseph at jsc to talk us through that milestone joseph back to you thank you very much ronnie great to work with you and the team again as we see another successful launch and the cargo resupply services mission the 34th for nasa and spacex heading towards the orbiting lab and as you mentioned we're monitoring the nose cone deploy on the tip of the dragon spacecraft that'll hinge open we just received note that the first set of hooks are opening up we'll wait for the second set and then followed by the nose cone deploy so once the nose cone is deployed it will expose the four ford bulkhead draco thrusters that will execute a series of maneuvers necessary to raise dragon's orbit and meet up with the international space station and this will be immediately after dragon separates from falcon 9 which we just saw and it begins with what we call now the activation and rendezvous phase of the mission during this dragon is configured for on-orbit operations and begins after separation of dragon from falcon 9 and will end with the completion of the final co-elliptic burn one of five key burns that the spacecraft will perform in order to catch up to the orbiting laboratory now our initial orbit today for the spacecraft is 190 kilometers by 210 kilometers and with those numbers that represents the perigee and apogee of the orbit or the lowest and highest point over the earth as we are now 11 minutes and 45 seconds into today's mission now with that initial orbit it means that it isn't a perfect circle around the earth but more like a very slight ellipse and now over the next several hours in fact looking at the phasing for dragon to catch up to the international space station about 37 hours one day 12 hours and 54 minutes give or take to track down the orbiting lab with again a docking scheduled for early sunday morning and that will be around 7 a.m eastern time at 6 a.m central time now i alluded to there are five major burns that the dragon spacecraft or the firing of the draco thrusters will perform to catch up to the international space station and those burns are the phase burn boost burn close burn transfer and co-elliptic burn which we mentioned earlier that final and that's all for dragon to not only climb up to but catch up to the international space station and there you can see the pathway of today now approaching 13 minutes into today's mission now if we can let's transfer over to the mission control rooms as they are behind today's launch festivities and you will see the teams both in hawthorne and in johnson space center and the teams here with me in houston monitoring the orbiting laboratory but keeping a close eye on today's flight and of course again the team in hawthorne and spacex operating today's launch and there you can see on the right hand side of your screen there look inside the international space station flight control room as they continue to monitor the progress of the dragon spacecraft now again we're continuing to monitor nose cone deploy the first set of hooks have opened now looking and keeping an eye on the second set and we'll see the nose cone start to hopefully go in motion here shortly and now you can see the spacex teams on the left hand side approaching 14 minutes into today's mission and then once nose cone is confirmed we'll be joined on console here by bill spetch international space station operations and integrations manager to go over today's missions its importance to the orbiting laboratory and what certainly has been a busy time for the international space station now again docking of the dragon spacecraft is scheduled for 7 a.m eastern time on sunday may 17th 6 a.m central time and we'll have all the coverage right here on nasa plus and all the nasa channels beginning at 5 30 a.m eastern 4 30 a.m central we'll continue to monitor dragon again awaiting nose cone movement as the hooks have all opened up again that nose cone located at the tip of dragon spacecraft and now the nose cone is in movement and we will see its first movements here shortly again we thank you for following and now on screen you can start to see daylight creeping in as that is inside of the dragon spacecraft looking at the nose cone it is opening up to expose that docking adapter which will come into play again on sunday morning with nasa astronauts jack hathaway and isa astronaut sophie adno on tap to monitor docking to the international space station in those early morning hours and a great visualization again of the nose cone opening approaching about the halfway point in terms of being fully opened and exposed to the vacuum of space currently in their off-duty period right now and resting as the expedition 74 crew but they will snap into action once the dragon spacecraft arrives to unpack the 6 500 pounds of cargo and supplies nasa astronauts jesse kamir jack hathaway and chris williams we mentioned isa astronaut sophie adno and roscosmos cosmonaut sergey katsverchkov the current station commander sergey mikheyev and andre fedyaev temporary loss of visuals there on the nose cone but it does continue to open up as we'll monitor as we just pass the halfway point teams on the left hand side in hawthorne california and spacex and the on the right here with me in the international space station flight controller in houston texas continuing to follow along we also mentioned there will be five key burns for the dragon spacecraft to make as it begins its chase to the international space station the first one will be the phase burn which happens not too long after liftoff in fact that'll be a little bit later on this evening and then the other four key burns with necessary adjustments will occur throughout saturday and into sunday nose cone now about 70 percent open as the teams here continuing to move along just over 17 minutes into today's mission after an on-time liftoff at 6 0 5 p.m eastern time from space launch complex 40 is nasa's spacex 34th commercial resupply services mission to the international space station loaded up with 6 500 pounds of food supplies cargo and hardware to the orbiting laboratory and what has been a busy stretch of time and it's always a busy stretch of time for the international space station and we'll touch upon that with bill spetsch here in just a moment operations integrations manager as the nose cone now nearly open we'll stand by for confirmation and as we await that confirmation great views from dragon now over 18 minutes into today's flight a successful liftoff stage one the sixth flight of the stage one booster made its way safely back to landing zone of 40 stage two carry dragon the rest of the way is again we continue to stand by for confirmation of we continue to stand by and we just received confirmation that they were doing the draco checkouts after nose cone and deploy and here inside of mission control we just got a great call up from our visiting vehicles officer that the nose cone has been deployed the draco draco thruster checkouts have been completed and dragon is now on its way to the international space station so now that it's deployed and ready for its phasing burns to the orbiting laboratory with a successful orbital insertion i'm now joined by bill spetsch the international space station operations and integrations manager bill thank you so much for joining us today yeah it's great to be here again bill this commercial resupply services mission just launched for you what stands out about this mission and what it brings to the space station we talked about the the cargo and some of the science that's on board but it packs a lot in that spacecraft to bring to the orbiting laboratory yeah it really does series 34 is another great example of how the space station keeps driving science and technology forward this message's mission is delivering new research hardware supplies all the things that keep our crew healthy and the laboratory running every one of these cargo flights helps us test systems study human health and mature technologies that we'll need as we go deeper into space it's a reminder that the ISS is still one of the most productive platforms we have for discovery and i've alluded to it a couple of times but it's always a busy stretch of time for the international space station program how would you describe the pace of operations that's been going on right now for the laboratory yeah the pace on ISS is always incredibly dynamic we're supporting continuous crew operations science experiments that are going on all the time visiting vehicles coming and going and various upgrades all while preparing for the next phase of human spaceflight the team is balancing day-to-day station operations with long-term planning and it really shows the strength of our international partnership even as we celebrate milestones like crs34 the work really never stops on orbit and certainly does not and we had a chance to catch up with you during the pre-launch teleconference and more to come and for those following along be sure to visit nasa.gov for that information well bill artemis 2 not too far back in terms of mission success and a major milestone for not only all programs here at nasa but just for the agency overall how is the international space station shaping artemis and future missions beyond lower and again the international space station that foundational test bed to continue humanity's exploration further and further out into our solar system bill spench it's great to see you thank you so much for joining us here today absolutely always a pleasure that was bill spench the international space station operations and integrations manager thank you again so much for your time and joining the broadcast let's back check back in with the team over in spacex ronnie thanks joseph as you mentioned dragon has now begun its journey toward the international space station executing a series of phasing burns to gradually close the distance with docking again targeting sunday may 17th at 7 a.m eastern 6 a.m central we'd like to thank nasa for entrusting us with today's mission spacex is honored to be part of nasa's commercial resupply services initiative congratulations again to the teams on another successful launch to stay up to date with all of our upcoming missions here at spacex please be sure to check out spacex.com slash launches for schedules and follow spacex on x that will do it for me here in hawthorne today thank you so much for tuning in back to you joseph thank you so much ronnie as always it's been a pleasure to team up with you and share this launch again with you and the teams over at spacex and we hope you'll join us on nasa plus amazon prime and more for our coverage of the final approach and docking of this dragon spacecraft again beginning at 5 30 a.m eastern on sunday may 17th not too long from now for a docking expected near 7 a.m eastern time visit nasa.gov for the latest updates on our coverage and expected docking times as we follow the operations throughout the next couple of days with dragon safely on its way to the international space station that'll wrap up tonight's coverage of nasa and spacex's 34th commercial resupply services launch thank you for joining us and we hope to see you again on sunday morning until next time this is mission control houston