Weather was the only concern, according to NASA during the live streams.Įven with all of the exceptional planning ahead of this SpaceX launch, NASA and SpaceX can't control the weather (not yet anyway). The good news is that everything technical with the SpaceX craft and NASA crew was 'go for liftoff' on both days when the hatch door successfully closed. Blame Newtown's law of universal gravity, if you'd like. Both Saturday's successful launch and Wednesday's scrubbed launch had what's known as an 'instantaneous launch window', meaning due orbital mechanics a delay wasn't possible if the crew wanted to get to the International Space Station (ISS) on time and lock in accurately. Waiting even ten minutes wasn't an option, though. If they would have been able to wait ten minutes beyond the countdown, they could have cleared those three violations, according to SpaceX and NASA officials. NASA has strict weather rules for clearing spacecraft launches and noted that three weather violations existed, including the chance of the craft triggering 'natural lightning'. "I know there was a lot of disappointment today."īridenstine went on to explain the reasoning behind what we all saw: the SpaceX launch was scrubbed just 17 minutes inside the launch window, with NASA hanging on until the last minutes in an effort to save its efforts. It wouldn't have been time, as we saw this play out on Wednesday: "The weather got us," admitted NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a somber 30-second Twitter video on Wednesday. Up until the last few minutes of Saturday's SpaceX launch, weather was a concern. (Image credit: SpaceX) SpaceX launch weather concerns subsided The destination of this SpaceX launch is the International Space Station (ISS) for a one- to four-month duration for NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, according to our friends over at. It's the birth of commercially-backed human space travel. It's also the first time that a SpaceX reusable spacecraft has sent NASA astronauts into space. It's the first such launch on US soil in nearly a decade – since NASA retired the Space Shuttle nine years ago. Saturday's SpaceX Demo-2 mission was a delayed and a second attempt, but it was always going to be historic, as it's happening at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. "But given the fact that we are in late May – in Florida – we have to take every shot that we can get." They're glad that they did, despite the gloomy forecast. "We are predicting a 50/50 shot of going this time," said NASA administrator NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine at the top of the SpaceX live stream. Minimum viewing distance is typically miles away from the launch pad, but the live 360 stream enables viewers to get a pads-eye view.įor information about Orbital ATK’s cargo resupply mission, visit:It wasn't always clear that Saturday's launch would happen, even minutes before the launch window. Recognizing the exciting possibilities opened by applying this new technology to spaceflight, NASA, ULA, and Orbital ATK seized this opportunity to virtually place the public at the base of the rocket during launch. While virtual reality and 360 technology have been increasing in popularity, live 360 technology is a brand new capability that has recently emerged. Those who own virtual reality headsets will be able to look around and experience the view as if they were actually standing on the launch pad. Viewers may use the YouTube app to view the launch on a smart phone. YouTube supports playback of 360-degree videos on computers using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera browsers. Note: not all browsers support viewing 360 videos. To view in 360, use a mouse or move a personal device to look up and down, back and forth, for a 360-degree view around Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Launch is targeted for Tuesday, April 18 during a 30-minute window that opens at 11:11 a.m. Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft will launch on a ULA Atlas V rocket carrying more than 7,600 pounds of science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory. The live 360 stream of the cargo resupply mission liftoff to the International Space Station may be viewed on the NASA Television YouTube channel starting 10 minutes prior to lift off at: (April 14, 2017) NASA, in coordination with United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Orbital ATK, will broadcast the world’s first live 360-degree stream of a rocket launch.
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