Scivillage.com Casual Discussion Science Forum

It's raining pretty heavily at Cape Canaveral right now. Winds are expected later in the day. But the low pressure area causing it is expected to move away by Wednesday. The uncertainty is how quickly that happens and what kind of unsettled weather lingers behind.

May 25 forecast still puts launch-day weather at 40% Go.

More beautiful SpaceX photos of the DM-2 rocket on its Cape Canaveral pad

The low pressure area is moving away more quickly than earlier anticipated and the last weather forecast before the launch has improved to 60% Go. The forecast for Saturday, the backup day, is 70% Go.

https://www.patrick.af.mil/Portals/14/We...075051-140

With Bob and Doug about to go into space tomorrow, one would think that this would be a time of anxiety for their families. But in both of their cases, the wives have been there, done that.

Both Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley are married to fellow astronauts.

Behnken's wife is K. Megan McArthur. She's a UCSD PhD in Oceanography who flew on the Shuttle on STS 125 where she worked the robotic arm and is the last astronaut to "touch" the Hubble Space Telescope. She's served as Capcom on several missions and I wonder if they would let her do it on this one, if her husband is the one she's communicating with up there.



Hurley's wife is Karen Nyberg, who's an engineer with a PhD from the U of Texas (for work on thermoregulation in space suits). She flew on the Shuttle on STS 124 and again on a Soyuz for ISS Expeditions 36/37. She retired from NASA just a few months ago.



Karen should be a member of the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists.

I'm growing less hopeful about the weather and expect a scrub.

The low pressure area that was over Florida a few days ago is now off the South Carolina coast and has strengthened into a tropical storm. The relevance of that is that it's currently very near an abort area where the capsule might come down if there's an in-flight abort.

There's currently sporadic rain at Cape Canaveral, but it seems to be moving away.

So... there's currently a weather meeting underway that will decide whether to go today or shoot for the backup window on Saturday.

The crew is putting on their suits. Then they are scheduled to drive to the pad in their Tesla. They want to make sure the weather is within specifications before they put the astronauts into the capsule.

Edit: Jim Bridenstine says the weather team says (tentatively, weather is still exceedingly iffy) 'Go'! The astronauts have been handed over to SpaceX. The SpaceX suitup crew is doing pressure tests on the suits that the astronauts have just put on. Pad closeout crews on on the pad making final preparations for the astronauts to arrive.

Edit: 12:39 PM EDT: T - 4 hours. They are working no technical issues with the rocket and the dragon.

Live feeds are on.

NSF feed:



NASA feed:

---

T-3 hours and 39 minutes - Elon and Jim Bridenstine are in the suitup room talking to the astronauts.



T-3 hours and 30 minutes - Lightening at the pad

T-3 hours and 7 minutes - Bob and Doug just came out the doors and walked down the walkway to where the Tesla was (with a whole bunch of security vehicles). Bridenstine, Elon and VP Mike Pence greeted them, then they had moments with their families (their astronaut wives and their young sons). Then they got in the Tesla drove off and are now at the pad.







T-2 hours 45 minutes - Bob and Doug just walked through the crew access arm and signed the wall. Everyone is waiting for the day that wall is filled with signatures.



Then they climbed into the Dragon and are being strapped in and booting up their control panels. (What was my password again??) The crew at the capsule are all dressed in black overalls with black head coverings and black masks. The space nerds have already dubbed them the SpaceX ninjas . ("To enter the capsule, you must pass three tests!")





T-2 hours 35 minutes - tornado warning! The radar has detected rotation but nothing has descended from the clouds. It's passing north of Kennedy Space Center. Crew checkout proceeding. Don't worry, the warning has expired as the rotation moved offshore.



T- 2 hours 21 minutes - the capsule seats have just rotated from entry position to launch position (with the astronauts on their backs). Their visors are down and they are doing more pressure checks for the suits. "Put your tray tables up and your seats in the launch position".

T-2 hours 16 minutes. Suit checks completed and the ninjas have sealed up the hatch.



T-1 hour 5 minutes. The ninjas have evacuated the pad. They are expecting a final poll whether to proceed at about T-45 minutes. If the decision is Go, then they will start fueling at about ten minutes after that.

T-16 minutes 54 seconds

Launch scrubbed due to violation of the weather rules. It's impressive how the countdown proceeded flawlessly without any glitches prior to the weather officer announcing 'No Go!'.

Tory Bruno said it best: It's an entirely different thing when you shake hands with your payload.

And as pilots say, it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.

Detanking has completed and the vehicle is apparently safed. The ninjas have returned, they will be unsealing the hatch in about five minutes. Bob and Doug are being advised that the pressure in the capsule is being equalized to ground level air pressure, so the astronauts may feel that. The astronauts say they both felt it and heard it.

Next try 3:22 PM EDT Saturday.

Ninjas reopening the hatch. They seem to be reaching into a hole, this is normal because the latch and pressure equalization mechanisms are recessed under a protective panel to keep them out of the reentry hot plasma flow. If there was a handle that stuck out reentry might burn it off.



Astronauts out of the capsule and talking to the ninjas



Waiting for the launch tower elevator



In the Teslas headed back to astronaut crew quarters (and their families) til Saturday when it all happens again.

DM-2 is now tentatively scheduled to go tomorrow, Saturday May 30. The weather is still exceedingly iffy and they won't officially decide whether to go until Saturday morning.

But... inside talk is that the launch crews don't really expect to launch tomorrow.

So... if tomorrow is scrubbed, Sunday is a possibility, but the weather isn't expected to improve.

The next dates after that seem to be Wednesday June 3 and Thursday June 4. Weather is expected to be significantly better by then.

They are going today. The astronauts are currently in their Tesla on the way to the pad.

---

This one has mission control audio

---

T-2 hours 45 minutes - The astronauts are in. The Pad Ninjas are definitely aware that they have been dubbed 'ninjas', since some of them were making ninja moves.

T-1 hour. They are doing a technical poll to decide whether to fuel the rocket.

Apparently the result is 'Go for propellant load'. Weather is still roughly 50-50.

Weather is improving. Lightening in the in-flight abort landing zone seems to be last major concern.

T-48 minutes - "Weather is 'Go' at this time".

T-45 minutes - Crew access arm has retracted

T-42 minutes - Launch escape system is armed

T-5 minutes - powering towards launch

LAUNCH!!! Bob and Doug are off!!!

Stage separation! Good second stage start!

Bob and Doug are in orbit!

B1058 has nailed its landing on OCISLY!

Outstanding! Everything clicking into place like a well-oiled machine!