SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon COTS Demo (C2+) PRE LAUNCH UPDATES (PART 2)

[edfishel]

Ditto what AndyX said!  Well worth the expense.

[Chris Bergin]

May 19 looking good per L2. Software validation complete pending some action items (that's normal). Hearing lots of positivity for the first time on making the latest NET launch date (May 19).

Will write up an article on this for today, two more people to speak to and I'll get on it.

[mr. mark]

Great news Chris! 8 days and counting. Looking forward to the update/article.

[Comga]

New press release on coverage:

MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-084

UPDATED COVERAGE FOR NASA/SPACEX LAUNCH AND MISSION TO STATION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The second SpaceX demonstration launch for
NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) has been
rescheduled for a liftoff on Saturday, May 19. The launch of the
Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule will occur from Space
Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
There is a single instantaneous launch opportunity at 4:55 a.m. EDT.

NASA Television launch commentary from Cape Canaveral begins at 3:30
a.m.

During the flight, SpaceX's Dragon capsule will conduct a series of
check-out procedures to test and prove its systems, including the
capability to rendezvous and berth with the International Space
Station (ISS). The primary objectives for the flight include a flyby
of the space station at a distance of approximately 1.5 miles to
validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a
safe rendezvous and approach.

The spacecraft also will demonstrate the ability to abort the
rendezvous. Once these capabilities are successfully proven, the
Dragon will be cleared to berth with the space station.

FALCON 9 LAUNCH PAD PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

Friday, May 18 (L-1 day): A photo opportunity of the Falcon 9 rocket
and Dragon capsule on the launch pad will be available for the news
media. Spokespeople from SpaceX will be available to answer
questions.


It can be noted by those particularly sensitive to such things that when the email comes through from NASA, it says "Updated Coverage for Nasa/SpaceX Launch .."  with NASA improperly capitalized.  :-)

[FinalFrontier]

Well, here's to hoping the software issues are resolved and we get a launch this time.


Weather may be an issue as well, it remains to be seen.

[ugordan]

Weather may be an issue as well, it remains to be seen.

I would have never guessed.

[Antares]

Actually, that's the only good thing about launching at 08:55Z.

[butters]

I suppose that the precise T-0 is pending any impact of Soyuz TMA-04M docking on ISS orbital parameters?

[Chris Bergin]

Includes a slightly more technical on orbit to berthing profile overview via L2.

SpaceX’s Dragon debut to the ISS passes software validation process:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2012/05/spacexs-dragon-debut-passes-software-validation-process/

I'll give it a standalone thread, to allow this thread to continue with pre-launch updates (as opposed to mission profile stuff), as much as this article is also a big boost for the May 19 launch date.

[krytek]

@elonmusk
"Launch T zero now confirmed as 4:55 am Cape Canaveral time on Sat, May 19. I will be tweeting live from mission control."

That's 08:55 UTC

[Space Pete]

Per today's ISS Weekly Planning Conference (WPC), a possible R&R of a SIGI on ISS coming up, needed for Dragon RGPS navigation.
Full notes: http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=27875.msg896605#msg896605

Also per today's WPC:

2. Parts of the TVIS are to be prepared to be returned on the Dragon.

3. If the Dragon is berthed on May 22, the crew will egress on May 30 and it will be unberthed on May 31.

[Space Pete]

Following up on the SIGI R&R, it has been confirmed that SIGI-1 has failed and needs to be R&Rd - after already being R&Rd last month.

Assuming the R&R is a success, it won't be an issue for the C2+ mission, but should the R&R fail, or should the problem re-occur in the new unit, it does hold the potential to scrub the Dragon launch, since nominal operation of both SIGIs is required for Dragon RGPS navigation (and as such two good SIGIs is a Launch Commit Criteria for Dragon).

Thanks to Fuji for first posting the below on the Expedition 31 thread.


From ISS On-Orbit Status 05/12/12:

GPS Failure: On 5/10, GPS-1 (Global Positioning System 1) of SIGI (Space Integrated GPS/Inertial Navigation System) locked up and stopped producing attitude information, potentially due to an internal hardware issue.  Controllers on the ground power-cycled it twice (turned it off/on), but it did not come back on.  GPS-1 is drawing power but is not communicating with the GNC MDM (Guidance, Navigation & Control Multiplexer/Demultiplexer) computer.  There is another good spare onboard for an R&R (removal & replacement), as well as a degraded spare.  On 5/14 (Monday), the crew will access the SIGI GPS and perform the R&R to increase redundancy in preparation for SpaceX launch and berthing if the decision to do it is made by tomorrow.  Last April, when Burbank & Kuipers replaced the SIGI GPS in the Lab Aft Endcone, they ran into a couple of issues, and the R&R took eight hours of crew time split over two days using two crewmembers.

[subzero788]

Thanks for keeping us updated on the issue Pete. A question for you.

From your April 16 article:

“SpaceX and ON prefer to R&R (Remove & Replace) SIGI-1 to  increase the likelihood of mission success. There are 2 spares on orbit  and 4 on the ground. R&R requires ~7 hours crew time, requires  repeat of the 12 channel checkout, and 3 weeks run time prior to LCC.

I took this  to mean that the replacement unit would be required to run for 3 weeks before LCC is satisfied. Or did I misunderstand that last bit?

[Space Pete]

I took this  to mean that the replacement unit would be required to run for 3 weeks before LCC is satisfied. Or did I misunderstand that last bit?

Good spot. Your understanding is the same as mine - so either the 3 week runtime requirement has/will be waived, or we could be looking at a scrub from May 19.

Let's keep our eye on this.

[Jim]

we could be looking at a scrub from May 19.

Just a nit, you mean a reschedule. One has to be in an active countdown to scrub

[Norm38]

The SIGI issue aside, is the docking of tonight's Soyuz flight the last major hurdle to firm up the 19th launch date?

[mr. mark]

Let's hope they can get around this issue and waive the 3 week restriction.

[Space Pete]

The SIGI issue aside, is the docking of tonight's Soyuz flight the last major hurdle to firm up the 19th launch date?

As you say, the Soyuz has to dock first, but after that, Dragon is "prime on the manifest".

[Prober]

we could be looking at a scrub from May 19.

Just a nit, you mean a reschedule. One has to be in an active countdown to scrub

a "floating" schedule or is it another slide?

[Space Pete]

SIGI-1 is now R&Rd and appears to be working fine.


From ISS On-Orbit Status Report for 14/05/12

Kuipers & Pettit had several hours allotted for troubleshooting the failed GPS-1 (Global Positioning System-1) component of the ACS SIGI (Attitude Control System / Space Integrated GPS/Inertial Navigation System) in the Lab. [After first performing a check of the data connections to GPS-1, André & Don later were to press on with an R&R (Removal & Replacement) of GPS-1 if the connection check, monitored by the ground, was unsuccessful in regaining communications.]

----------

ISS crew perform successful GPS repair
http://blogs.esa.int/promisse/2012/05/14/iss-crew-perform-successful-gps-repair/

"After completing the repair, just after 15:30 CEST this afternoon the Station crew received word from the ground that the GPS is now ‘working just fine’."