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The crew access arm,
or astronaut walkway, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, FL,
is extended to the SpaceX Crew Dragon DM-1 spacecraft soon after the Falcon 9
rocket was erected vertical on Jan. 3, 2019. Credit: SpaceX
|
Ken Kremer --SpaceUpClose.com &
RocketSTEM –8 January 2019
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The launch target date for SpaceX’s first unpiloted test flight of the commercial Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Demo-1 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center has slipped several times over the past two months and is currently foreseen to be sometime in early 2019.
The launch delays are a result of both technical and political issues. Yes - sadly I wrote political issues are responsible too.
Because of the ongoing shutdown of the US Government many NASA employees are on furlough for two and a half weeks and counting and unable to work on many projects - such as NASA’s critical Commercial Crew Program (CCP) which aims to launch US astronauts once again from US soil on US spaceships and end our sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz capsule for rides to the International Space Station (ISS) sometime this year 2019!!
Therefore the NASA workforce can’t observe and certify that the ongoing prelaunch preparatory and processing work by SpaceX technicians meets all the technical, safety and reliability requirements and milestones set forth in SpaceX CCP contracts with NASA.
And there is no end in sight to the US Government Shutdown.
In Nov. 2018, NASA and SpaceX announced Jan 7, 2019 as the target launch date for Demo-1 (DM-1).
By early December that Jan 7 target had slipped as I learned from SpaceX VP Hans Koenigsmann during a briefing at the KSC press site.
I asked Koenigsmann about the status of preparations for the DM-1 especially in light of comments by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine that a delay was very probable and there were problems with some systems like the parachutes according to the safety reviews.
Koenigsmann told Space UpClose that there would be a slight slip to mid-Jan as processing work continued in full swing at the Kennedy Space Center.
“What I could see is a couple days delay [for Demo-1] because of traffic from visiting vehicles at the ISS. Our target is, at this point in time, mid-January, and we’re pushing as hard and as diligently as we can for this particular launch,” Koenigsmann told Space UpClose at the KSC briefing in Dec 2018.
Last week for the first time SpaceX technicians rolled an integrated Falcon 9 rocket capped with the SpaceX Crew Dragon DM-1 spaceship out to Launch Complex 39A and raised it erect at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad that once sent astronauts to the Moon aboard the NASA Saturn V/Apollo vehicles and NASA Space Shuttle Orbiters to Earth orbit.
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The launch target date for SpaceX’s first unpiloted test flight of the commercial Crew Dragon spacecraft on the Demo-1 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center has slipped several times over the past two months and is currently foreseen to be sometime in early 2019.
The launch delays are a result of both technical and political issues. Yes - sadly I wrote political issues are responsible too.
Because of the ongoing shutdown of the US Government many NASA employees are on furlough for two and a half weeks and counting and unable to work on many projects - such as NASA’s critical Commercial Crew Program (CCP) which aims to launch US astronauts once again from US soil on US spaceships and end our sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz capsule for rides to the International Space Station (ISS) sometime this year 2019!!
Therefore the NASA workforce can’t observe and certify that the ongoing prelaunch preparatory and processing work by SpaceX technicians meets all the technical, safety and reliability requirements and milestones set forth in SpaceX CCP contracts with NASA.
And there is no end in sight to the US Government Shutdown.
In Nov. 2018, NASA and SpaceX announced Jan 7, 2019 as the target launch date for Demo-1 (DM-1).
By early December that Jan 7 target had slipped as I learned from SpaceX VP Hans Koenigsmann during a briefing at the KSC press site.
I asked Koenigsmann about the status of preparations for the DM-1 especially in light of comments by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine that a delay was very probable and there were problems with some systems like the parachutes according to the safety reviews.
Koenigsmann told Space UpClose that there would be a slight slip to mid-Jan as processing work continued in full swing at the Kennedy Space Center.
“What I could see is a couple days delay [for Demo-1] because of traffic from visiting vehicles at the ISS. Our target is, at this point in time, mid-January, and we’re pushing as hard and as diligently as we can for this particular launch,” Koenigsmann told Space UpClose at the KSC briefing in Dec 2018.
The Crew Dragon
and Falcon 9 rocket were already inside the huge processing hanger just outside
the pad 39A perimeter fence with preparations ongoing for the upcoming launch.
Currently the earliest
possible launch date for SpaceX Crew Dragon on the Demo-1 (DM-1) mission
appears to be roughly in the mid-February time frame based on a new tweet from
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
“About a month away from the first orbital test flight of crew Dragon,” Musk tweeted on Jan. 5.
“About a month away from the first orbital test flight of crew Dragon,” Musk tweeted on Jan. 5.
Last week for the first time SpaceX technicians rolled an integrated Falcon 9 rocket capped with the SpaceX Crew Dragon DM-1 spaceship out to Launch Complex 39A and raised it erect at the Kennedy Space Center launch pad that once sent astronauts to the Moon aboard the NASA Saturn V/Apollo vehicles and NASA Space Shuttle Orbiters to Earth orbit.
“Preparing to return human spaceflight capabilities to the
United States, Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 went vertical at historic Launch
Complex 39A in Florida,” SpaceX tweeted along with several photos and artwork
on Jan. 4.
 |
The crew access arm,
or astronaut walkway, at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, FL,
is extended to the SpaceX Crew Dragon DM-1 spacecraft soon after the Falcon 9
rocket was erected vertical on Jan. 3, 2019. Credit: SpaceX
|
The private SpaceX crew dragon will fly on the Demo-1 mission to the ISS and was developed under the auspices of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Although no astronauts will be aboard this test flight, two crew members will soar to orbit on the follow-up Demo-2 test flight several months later in June 2019 - according to current projections.
Vice
President Mike Pence recently visited the SpaceX launch facility at NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center in Florida where the Crew Dragon DM-1 spaceship and Falcon
9 rocket are being processed for the launch.
Pence
received a personally guided tour from SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and met
with SpaceX employees.
 |
VP Mike Pence tours the SpaceX launch processing facility with
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell to visit the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket
on Dec. 18, 2018. Credit: SpaceX
|
“Incredible
opportunity to see @SpaceX's Dragon 2 Capsule - an important part of the
future of American human space exploration as we aim to return American
astronauts to space on U.S. rockets from U.S. soil!” VP Pence tweeted on Dec.
18, 2018 from Launch Complex 39A at KSC.
 |
VP Mike Pence tours the SpaceX launch processing facility with
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell to visit the Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket
on Dec. 18, 2018. Credit: SpaceX
|
The goal of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is to restore America’s capability to
launch human spaceflight missions
from the U.S. to low Earth orbit (LEO) and the International Space Station
(ISS) on American capsules with American rockets from American soil - and
thereby end our 100% reliance on the Russian Soyuz capsules.
The US became solely dependent
on Russia due to the forced shutdown of NASA’s Space Shuttles back in 2011 when
both political parties failed to provide sufficient US Federal budget funding
support to NASA’s human spaceflight programs.
Target timelines for return US
human spaceflight capability have been pushed back repeatedly since 2015 due to
endless mindless political squabbling as well as technical challenges.
Here’s a link to my Fox News 35 Orlando interview and
commentary about the negative impact of the US Government shutdown on NASA- as seen on Jan 8:
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/government-shutdown-impacting-space-industry
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/local-news/government-shutdown-impacting-space-industry
Watch
for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin,
Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space
Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility,
Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
Dr. Kremer is a research scientist,
journalist and photographer based in the KSC area.
………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events
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