Scrub!: SpaceX stands down from NASA Crew-11 launch from Kennedy Space Center
Original story: The next crew is headed to the ISS today − an early afternoon SpaceX launch which will bring a sonic boom.
NASA's Crew-11 is set to lift off during an instantaneous window at 12:09 p.m. from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A. The four will travel to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
Due to the launch having to align with the position of the ISS, the rocket must take off at 12:09 p.m. or SpaceX will have to stand down for the day.
Onboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will be NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The group is the 11th crew rotation and 12th overall astronaut launch by SpaceX for NASA.
Headed for the ISS, the launch will travel on a northeast trajectory.
If the launch is on Thursday, the four will arrive at the space station no earlier than 3 a.m. August 2.
Crew-11 will spend six to eight months on the ISS, where they will conduct space station activities, science, and technology demonstrations.
The liftoff is only the beginning of the event for spectators on the Space Coast, as just under eight minutes past the launch the rocket's booster will land at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This will create a thunderous sonic boom, which will be heard shortly after the booster lands.
When is the next Florida rocket launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, NASA, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral
Countdown Timer
SpaceX NASA Crew-11 next launch opportunity
Update 12:41 p.m.: NASA and SpaceX will attempt the launch again no earlier than 11:43 a.m. tomorrow, August 1.
Scrub!
Update 12:09 p.m.: The launch has been scrubbed for weather which popped up at the launch site.
5 minutes until SpaceX NASA Crew-11 rocket launch in Florida!
Update 12:04 p.m.: All is looking well for a 12:09 p.m. liftoff!
We are 10 minutes from the SpaceX NASA Crew-11 rocket launch!
Update 11:59 a.m.: T-10 minutes! Head outside if you plan on catching this launch! If clouds are not an issue, it will be hard to miss the bright rocket rising into the afternoon sky.
SpaceX post launch timeline
Update 11:52 a.m.: Liftoff is still on for 12:09 p.m.
This launch will bring a Space Coast sonic boom, as the first-stage of the rocket will land at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1.
According to SpaceX, here's a timeline of events which will follow the launch.
00:01:12 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)
00:02:24 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)
00:02:27 1st and 2nd stages separate
00:02:35 2nd stage engine starts
00:02:41 Boostback Burn Starts
00:03:28 Boostback Burn Ends
00:06:20 1st stage entry burn starts
00:06:33 1st stage entry burn ends
00:07:20 1st stage landing burn starts
00:07:43 1st stage landing
00:08:46 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)
00:09:37 Dragon separates from 2nd stage
00:10:25 Dragon nosecone open sequence begins
Sonic boom alert! NASA Crew-11 SpaceX launch in Florida will bring sonic boom
Update 11:45 a.m.: Those on the Space Coast be alert. Following the SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returning to Landing Zone 1, a loud sonic boom will be heard throughout the area.
SpaceX launch countdown timeline
Update 11:40 a.m.: Here's a behind-the-scenes rundown of SpaceX's countdown timeline. T-minus:
38 minutes: SpaceX launch director verifies 'go' for propellant load.
35 minutes: Rocket-grade kerosene and first-stage liquid oxygen loading begins.
16 minutes: Second-stage liquid oxygen loading begins.
7 minutes: Falcon 9 begins engine chill prior to launch.
1 minute: Command flight computer begins final prelaunch checks; propellant tank pressurization to flight pressure begins.
45 seconds: SpaceX launch director verifies 'go' for launch.
3 seconds: Engine controller commands engine ignition sequence to start.
0 seconds: Liftoff.
SpaceX launch prep underway in Brevard
Update 11:35 a.m.: Brevard County Emergency Management officials have activated the agency's launch operations support team ahead of SpaceX's upcoming Falcon 9 launch.
SpaceX fueling!
Update 11:25 a.m.: SpaceX has announced launch preparations are moving forward and fueling has begun.
The crew access arm has also been moved back ahead of liftoff.
Last SpaceX landing at Landing Zone 1
Update 11:20 a.m.: Bill Gerstenmaier, Vice President of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX, confirmed during a July 30 prelaunch press briefing that this landing will be the final landing Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral will support. Going forward, SpaceX will utilize Landing Zone 2.
Eventually, SpaceX plans to have landing sites at Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A.
SpaceX "go" for launch!
Update 11:13 a.m.: SpaceX has polled "go" for today's launch!
Zena Cardman's first spaceflight
Update 11:10 a.m.: This mission marks the first spaceflight of NASA astronaut Zena Cardman.
Cardman was originally scheduled to fly in 2024 as part of Crew-9, but was reassigned to allow room on the Crew-9 SpaceX Dragon for the return of Starliner Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams.
Wilmore and Williams were assigned to serve as part of Crew-9 after their Starliner spacecraft malfunctioned during its June 2024 flight test -- a mission which, had it been successful, would have certified the spacecraft to ferry NASA astronauts alongside SpaceX's Dragon.
In another turn of events, Fincke and Yui were previously scheduled to fly on the first Starliner crew rotation mission.
According to a July NASA press briefing, Boeing's Starliner may fly again as soon as next year. It is undecided if that mission will be crewed or uncrewed.
The Starliner is aimed to serve NASA's Commercial Crew Program alongside SpaceX's Crew Dragon.
SpaceX Dragon Endeavour and Space Shuttle Endeavour
Update 11:05 a.m.: Just over an hour to go until launch!
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke last visited the ISS on the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. In a turn of events, he is flying back to the ISS onboard another Endeavour – Crew Dragon Endeavour.
Crew Dragon Endeavour is seeing its sixth mission. It was the first SpaceX Dragon to launch humans to orbit in 2020 with the Demo-2 mission.
Demo-2 was also the first flight of the Commercial Crew Program. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley flew to the ISS on the Demo-2 mission, certifying the SpaceX spacecraft to transport NASA astronauts.
View of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ahead of launch in Florida
Update 10:49 a.m.: FLORIDA TODAY photographer, Craig Bailey, captured this view of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft during today's sunrise.
NASA Crew-11 to launch on SpaceX Falcon 9
Update 10:45 a.m.: Earlier this morning, the crew began their journey to the launch pad. FLORIDA TODAY photographer, Craig Bailey, was there to capture the moment.
University of Florida payload on SpaceX NASA Crew-11 rocket launch
Update 10:35 a.m.: According to a press release from the University of Florida, researchers from the university have a payload onboard this launch.
Seeds are being sent to the ISS to investigate how the spaceflight will impact the genetics of the plants. The four different types of seeds -- strawberries from the Tampa Bay region, two types of Florida orchids and a type of turf grass -- will stay on the ISS until returning with NASA's Crew-10 in approximately a week.
'Space is the ultimate high-stress environment for plants. On Earth, the extreme environments we have to contend with include heat waves, drought and hard freezes,' Wagner Vendrame, professor in the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (UF/IFAS) environmental horticulture department and part of UF's Astraeus Space Institute is quoted in the press release. 'This could be a way of generating more crops that are resilient to those kinds of stressors.'
SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon go vertical
Update 10:25 a.m.: Flashback! On July 27, SpaceX posted this behind-the-scenes footage of the rocket going vertical on the launch pad.
Now that rocket is set to bolt off the launch pad.
Today's launch is set for 12:09 p.m.
NASA live ahead of SpaceX launch of Crew-11
Update 10:15 a.m.: The offical NASA coverage of the Crew-11 launch is posted above, below the countdown clock.
Less than two-hours remain until the liftoff.
SpaceX Dragon hatch closed!
Update 10:12 a.m.: The SpaceX closeout team has closed the hatch. The countdown to launch continues.
SpaceX NASA Crew-11 weather outlook
Update 10:06 a.m.: The 45th Weather Squadron has predicted a 90% chance of favorable weather conditions for lift off at the launch and booster landing location at Cape Canaveral.
However, the ascent corridor weather, primarily winds, remain a watch item.
NASA SpaceX Crew-11 heads to launch pad
Update 9:40 a.m.: Just before 9 a.m., the crew passed by the press site on the way to Kennedy Space Center Pad 39A, where their ride to space is waiting.
The countdown clock is moving, and liftoff is set for 12:09 p.m.
Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Scrub recap: NASA Crew-11 SpaceX rocket launch from KSC scrubbed
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