SpaceX's latest ISS resupply mission is a go.
NASA recently announced that SpaceX would launch its 27th commercial resupply services mission to the ISS on Mar. 14, provided the weather cooperates.
SpaceX's resupply mission comes with various items that the astronauts aboard the ISS need to conduct their experiments in space.
SpaceX 27th Commercial Resupply Launch Details
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Cargo Dragon spacecraft, is rolled out from the company’s hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 12, 2022, to the launch pad in preparation for the 25th commercial resupply services launch. The mission delivered new science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the crew aboard the International Space Station.
NASA mentioned in its announcement that it is giving SpaceX the green light to launch its 27th commercial resupply services mission, CRS-27, to the ISS on Mar. 14 at 8:30 PM EDT at Launch Complex 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
However, the space agency added that the launch may or may not proceed due to the weather. Officials with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's 45th Weather Squadron predict a 50% chance of favorable weather conditions for liftoff, with the launch's possible primary reason for being rescheduled being the thick cloud layer rule.
The weather aside, Sarah Walker, SpaceX's Dragon mission management director, stated during a post-launch readiness review (LRR) press conference that the Falcon 9 rocket and Cargo Dragon spacecraft are healthy and that all the systems are go for launch, per Space.com. However, like Space Force and NASA, she is concerned about the weather conditions on Mar. 14 being unfavorable to launch its resupply mission to the ISS, with her saying that the teams should continue to monitor the weather over the next 24 hours.
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On the other hand, Arlena Moses, the launch weather officer for Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's 45th Weather Squadron, believes that the weather on Mar. 14 will be favorable. According to her models, the probability of the launch not happening went down to 20% as Monday wore on.
However, she does still have her concerns regarding the weather, particularly the possibility of mid-level clouds thick enough to carry an electric charge.
SpaceX's Cargo
SpaceX's commercial resupply services mission will deliver new science investigations, supplies, and equipment to the astronauts aboard the ISS to help them conduct their experiments in space.
This delivery includes the final two experiments in the National Institutes for Health and International Space Station National Library's Tissue Chips in Space research initiative, Cardinal Heart 2.0 and Engineered Heart Tissues-2.
These two experiments use small devices containing human cells in a 3D matrix to determine how they respond to stresses, drugs, and genetic changes. According to NASA officials on Mar. 9, the experiments' goal is to advance the development of treatments for cardiac dysfunction.
Additionally, SpaceX'x commercial resupply services mission includes the HUNCH Ball Clamp Monopod built by Houston-area high school students that could make it easier to film in space.
The resupply mission also includes supplying the astronauts in the ISS with some fresh fruit and refrigerated cheeses they requested, according to NASA ISS Program transportation integration manager Phil Dempsey. As such, the Cargo Dragon spacecraft contains apples, blueberries, grapefruit, oranges, cheery tomatoes, and a few different cheeses, though Dempsey didn't specify which cheeses are included in the spacecraft.
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