SpaceX tweeted on Flacon and Dragon teams keeping an eye out on the weather bought up some excitement. The launch of SpaceX Falcon 9’s Dragon is scheduled to take place on April 22nd, 6:11 AM EST (1011 GMT).
Update 2: SpaceX releases live telecast details. Live Link – SpaceX Launch.
Update 1: The launch is delayed to April 23rd, 5:49 AM, due to unfavorable conditions.
Update 2:
SpaceX tweeted about the webcast live timings. The launch is at 5:49 AM, and the telecast starts at 1:30 AM.
All systems and weather are looking good for Falcon 9’s launch of Dragon with four astronauts on board. Webcast will go live tomorrow at ~1:30 a.m. EDT → https://t.co/bJFjLCzWdK pic.twitter.com/TE6NB3nOJX
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 22, 2021
Update 1:
One day before the launch, the NASA team updated that there is a delay in the launch due to unfavorable weather conditions. And, the date is being shifted to 23rd April, one day later than scheduled.
According to the Wheather squadron, there is a 90% chance of favorable weather on the 23rd.
Launch Update ? @NASA and @SpaceX now are targeting Friday, April 23 at 5:49 a.m. ET for the launch of the Crew-2 mission to the @Space_Station due to unfavorable weather conditions along the flight path on Thursday.
Learn more: https://t.co/GSBum6JjfN pic.twitter.com/ylfQx0u2qT
— NASA Commercial Crew (@Commercial_Crew) April 21, 2021
Pre-dawn test firing
Last week on Saturday, three space station flyers were brought by Russian Soyuz in Kazakhstan. Four station-bound astronauts are getting ready for the Space rocket’s second launch. As the Russian Soyuz came back, SpaceX started test firing for Flacon 9’s first engines.
The Crew-2 mission involved Falcon 9 launching the Dragon spacecraft into space. The Crew Dragon’s trip is scheduled to be a 23-hour trip. As SpaceX has a booster, the astronauts won’t be flying on a new rocket. Last November Crew-1 flew through the rocket. And on April 17 there was test firing.
The Falcon 9 got ready last week, on Friday with its presence on the launchpad. The crew is getting ready for their trip. It is 3 men, 1 woman trip into space.
SpaceX tweeted about the team keeping an eye on the weather and Spaceship,
Falcon 9 and Dragon are looking good for flight of Crew-2 astronauts; teams are keeping an eye on launch site and downrange weather pic.twitter.com/IGi20gD7dP
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 20, 2021
Get to know the crew members
The four astronauts on board SpaceX Falcon 9’s Dragon Crew-2 are veteran space astronauts. This is their 6th expedition into space. These astronauts are Megan McArthur, Thomas Pesquet, Akihiko Hoshide, and Shane Kimbrough, respectively as shown below.
On a meeting with McArthur, she gave a statement,
“I just want to take a moment to thank the people that get us here, that get us ready, and that get all of this ready to make it happen. It’s a huge number of people, including our families, of course, sacrificing along the way as we prepare.”
When she arrived at the airport, her selection of shoes got all the attention. She wore typical astronaut blues, along with silvery glitter boots. Finally, as a note to thank everyone who worked towards making SpaceX Falcon 9’s Dragon launch happen, she said,
“And I just really want to take every opportunity to say thank you, because we know how much work it takes and we really appreciate that.”
Furthermore, Pesquet, a French Aerospace engineer talked about what he thinks,
“It means a lot to us [to launch on Earth day] because we all individually care about the Earth. But also because our agencies are at the forefront of the fight to protect the environment. It’s only by going into space that we’ve been able to take a step back and really measure all the variables that enable scientists to determine what’s happening to the planet.”
The whole conversation lasts long till all of them were talking about how fun it would be. The excitement is among the whole team though only 4 members will be going to space.
The SpaceX Crew-2 official insignia
The dragon in the logo represents the strength of the members. The stars in the middle represent five partner agencies. These five partners agencies are the ones operating with International Space Station Program.
