The planned launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) until NET Wednesday at 1:33 AM EST due to inclement weather. While NASA did not specifically cite which weather criteria created the need to delay, it almost certainly was due to high winds expected to build through the morning hours as a frontal boundary pushes through the Space Coast region.
NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Feb. 6 launch of the agency’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission due to unfavorable weather conditions. NASA and SpaceX are now targeting launch at 1:33 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 7, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Both the PACE satellite and the Falcon 9 rocket remain healthy.
Live launch coverage will begin on NASA+ and NASA TV public channel at 12:45 a.m.
NASA: 9:53 PM February 5, 2024
PACE is an NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will perform advanced observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols and clouds. That data is key to identifying the scope of climate changes in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Wednesday Morning Outlook
The 45th Weather Wing has issued a Probability of Violation forecast for the launch, giving it a 50/50 chance of being within acceptable conditions early tomorrow morning:
SpaceX and NASA are planning to launch a Falcon 9 from SLC-40 NET Tuesday morning at 1:33 AM EST. Weather may be a concern: the 45th Weather Squadron has yet to issue a Probability of Violation forecast, but the National Weather Service and other general forecast products are calling for a good chance of wind and rain at the planned launch time.
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory is inspected and processed on a spacecraft dolly in a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Dec. 4, 2023 Photo: NASA
NASA and SpaceX technicians safely encapsulate NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft in SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (click to view full size) Photo: NASA
The payload for the mission is NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite. It is an Earth-observing instrument that will conduct observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols as well as as clouds.
According to NASA, “PACE’s data will help us better understand how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide. In addition, it will reveal how aerosols might fuel phytoplankton growth in the surface ocean. Novel uses of PACE data will benefit our economy and society. For example, it will help identify the extent and duration of harmful algal blooms. PACE will extend and expand NASA’s long-term observations of our living planet. By doing so, it will take Earth’s pulse in new ways for decades to come.”
Weather A Concern
Until the 45th Weather Squadron releases their official launch forecast, here’s the general weather forecast. Note that this forecast does not consider rocket launch weather criteria and should be used only for a very general look ahead:
Monday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. Windy, with a north northwest wind 15 to 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Tuesday: A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Windy, with a north wind 25 to 30 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph.
Trajectory will be south, with the final destination being a Sun-synchronous orbit.
Via Flightclub.io
Sonic Boom Advisory
This will be an RTLS (Return To Launch Site) mission. Space Coast residents can expect a sonic boom to spread through the area after 1:42 AM. Remember that sound travels about five miles per second, so the exact time for the sonic boom’s arrival is dependent on your location’s distance to LZ-1.
In an email to media, SpaceX released the following:
SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, February 6 at 1:33 a.m. ET for a Falcon 9 launch of NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) mission to a sun-synchronous orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. If needed, a backup opportunity is available Wednesday, February 7 at the same time.
About eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. There is the possibility that residents of Brevard, Orange, Osceola, Indian River, Seminole, Volusia, Polk, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee County counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions.
SpaceX, February 5, 2024
SpaceX Falcon 9 with PACE aboard, February 5, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer
Booster
SpaceX will use Booster 1081 for this mission, which will be its fourth mission.
Timelapse of SpaceX/NASA Crew-6 Re-entry over Biolab Road in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in 2023. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX announced overnight that the expected return of the Axiom-3 astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon has been delayed.
SpaceX, Axiom Space, and NASA are targeting no earlier than Tuesday,
Dragon and the Ax-3 crew are now targeting no earlier than Tuesday, February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET to undock from the [International Space Station.] Teams continue to keep an eye on recovery weather conditions
The company also added more information on their website:
February 6 at 9:05 a.m. ET for Dragon and the Ax-3 astronauts to depart from the International Space Station. After performing a series of burns to move away from the space station, Dragon will conduct multiple orbit-lowering maneuvers, jettison its trunk, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere for splashdown off the coast of Florida approximately nine hours later the same day.
Photo: Lockheed Martin photography by Michael Jackson.
Many people forget this, but NASA’s first “A” is for “Aeronautics.”
The Agency’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) operates at a fraction of the budget as the space portion of NASA. Still, like the space side of the Agency, it does some pretty spectacular research. From winglets on commercial aircraft that save fuel to the X-15 — the first aircraft to reach the edge of space, ARMD has created incredible knowledge and value throughout its existence.
ARMD’s Newest Aircraft
One of the latest things that ARMD has done is build the X-59 supersonic aircraft, designed to be quieter than previous birds built to fly faster than sound (761 mph, or 1100 feet/second at sea level.)
“Looks Pretty, Flies Pretty”
Old aviator adage
According to them, “the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, while reducing the typically loud sonic boom produced by aircraft at such speeds to a quieter sonic “thump”. That sound is a familiar one to residents of the Space Coast: SpaceX Falcon 9 boosters returning to Cape Canaveral create a sonic boom to announce their arrival, and before that, the Space Shuttle did the same.
NASA ARMD have also made it clear that X-59 is an experimental, one of a kind plane that is designed to be an information gathering platform rather than serve as a prototype.
Official NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 portrait: (L-R) Stephanie Wilson, Aleksandr Gorbunov, Nick Hague, and Zena Cardman. Photo: NASA
NASA announced the four astronauts that will travel aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station later this year: Zena Cardman will be the Mission Commander, Nick Hague will be the Pilot, along with Stephanie Wilson and Russian Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov will travel to ISS no earlier than August 2024.
Zena Cardman
Zena Cardman Photo: UNC Chapel Hill
Cardman will be making her first spaceflight on this mission. She is a Williamsburg, Virginia, native and holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology plus a master’s in Marine Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While a doctoral candidate, Cardman researched geobiology and geochemical cycling in subsurface environments, from caves to deep-sea sediments. Since joining NASA, she has supported real-time ISS operations and development for lunar surface exploration.
Nick Hague
Nick Hague Photo: NASA
For Hague, this mission will be his third launch and his second mission to ISS. During his first launch in 2018, Hague and his crewmate Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were aboard Soyuz MS-10 when they experienced a booster failure resulting in an in-flight launch abort. The spacecraft landed safely with no serious injuries. Resiliently, only five months later, Hague launched aboard Soyuz MS-12 and served as a flight engineer aboard the space station during Expeditions 59 and 60. He has spent 203 days in space and has conducted three spacewalks as part of his duties aboard ISS.
Soyuz MS-10 breaking up above Kazakhstan with Nick Hague abord. The launch abort system can be seen firing, bottom center. Photo: NASA
Stephanie Wilson
Stephanie Wilson Photo: NASA
Wilson has spent 42 days in space aboard three separate space shuttle Discovery missions, STS-121, STS-120, and STS-131. A graduate of Engineering Science from Harvard University, she also earned a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. Wilson has been with NASA for 29 years and has served as the integration branch chief for NASA’s Astronaut Office, focusing on International Space Station systems and payload operations. She also served as the acting chief of NASA’s Program and Project Integration Office at the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
As the ground fills with smoke and steam, Space Shuttle Discovery creates its own fireworks display, fitting for the first ever launch on Independence Day. It was the third launch attempt in four days; the others were scrubbed due to weather concerns. Liftoff on mission STS-121 was on-time at 2:38 p.m. EDT. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew of seven will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Landing is scheduled for July 16 or 17 at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility. Photo: NASA/Nikon/Scott Andrews
Aleksandr Gorbunov Photo: Roscosmos
Aleksandr Gorbunov
The mission will be Gorbunov’s first trip to space and the station. Hailing from Zheleznogorsk, in south-central Russia, he studied engineering with qualifications in spacecraft and upper stages from the Moscow Aviation Institute. Gorbunov graduated from the military department with a specialty in operating and repairing aircraft, helicopters, and aircraft engines. He previously worked for engineer for Rocket Space Corporation Energia and since joining the Russian cosmonaut corps, he has supported Russian cargo missions to ISS.
This will be the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Northrup Grumman NG-20 mission towards ISS this afternoon. The launch was at 12:07 PM EST from the company’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and once it had completed its part of the mission, Booster 1077 completed its tenth flight when it safely touched down at Landing Zone 1, about 5.6 miles to the south of where it launched a little more than eight minutes earlier.
On Tuesday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, sending over 8,000 pounds of supplies aboard a Northrup Grumman Cygnus cargo craft to the International Space Station. This was NG’s 20th resupply mission.
Enjoy this 4K video with Surround Sound of the launch, as it was seen from inside the fence at Pad SLC-40. The video was created by the author:
SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying Northrup Grumman NG-20 Cygnus launches from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral on January 30, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Northrup Grumman NG-20 mission towards ISS this afternoon. The launch was at 12:07 PM EST from the company’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and once it had completed its part of the mission, Booster 1077 completed its tenth flight when it safely touched down at Landing Zone 1, about 5.6 miles to the south of where it launched a little more than eight minutes earlier.
A previous Cygnus space craft in the grasp of ISS’s Canadarm2. Photo: NASA
Today’s launch was the first of three that Northrup Grumman has contracted with SpaceX, and is the twentieth ISS resupply mission that the company has flown. According to NASA, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft is carrying 3,017 pounds of experiments, 2,493 pounds of hardware, 2,490 pounds of crew supplies, 149 pounds of computer resources and 35 pounds of spacewalk equipment.
SpaceX Performs Late-Load For First Time
Some of that cargo was loaded in the past 24 hours — foodstuffs (ice cream for the astronauts is rumored to be that portion of the payload) as well as some of the materials for science experiments required a “late-load,” which is a new capability for SpaceX that necessitated a one-delay from the initial planned launch date of January 29.
“We’re going to do a late-load activity into the Cygnus vehicle [so] we modified the fairing that’s the covering that goes on the outside of the Falcon rocket to include a 5-foot by 4-foot wide door. It essentially allows us to enter into the fairing area and put late-load car cargo in,” William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president ofBuild and Flight Reliability, said in a news conference on January 26th.
Booster B1077 descending towards its landing on Tuesday January 30, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Cygnus is expected to arrive at the International Space Station, where it will be docked to the orbiting facility’s Unity module by astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli.
Arrival At Space Station Will Be On Thursday
Now in orbit, the Cygnus cargo spacecraft will arrive at the International astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli will grapple it using ISS’s Canadarm 2 robotic arm, and the crew will then dock Cygnus to the Unity module. Following some normal checkouts, later, astronauts will then open the hatch to Cygnus and will begin to unload the cargo within the spacecraft.
The Cygus spacecraft is expected to stay at the International Space Station for up to six months. The spacecraft may perform additional services such as reboosting the station’s orbit to counteract atmospheric drag. Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus provides the only U.S. spacecraft reboost capability for the International Space Station.
More Photos
Liftoff As Seen Around The Space Coast
Click on the photo to see it full size on your device.
Falcon 9 in flight as it approaches the speed of sound. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media NowFalcon 9 lifting off from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of TitusvilleA vapor cone at the top of Falcon 9 caused by adiabatic cooling. Photo: Richard Gallagher / Florida Media NowLiftoff of Falcon 9 as seen from the NASA Press Site. Photo: Richard Gallagher, Florida Media NowA “light-saber” timelapse of Falcon 9’s liftoff. Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media NowFalcon 9 touching down at Landing Zone 1. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media NowFalcon 9 lifts off, as seen from the NASA Press Site. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of TitusvilleBooster 1077 descending towards landing, as seen from NASA Press Site. Photo: Charles Boyer, Talk of TitusvilleFalcon 9 lifts off. As seen from SLC-40, Charles Boyer, Talk of TitusvilleFalcon 9 lifts off. As seen from KARS Park. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media NowBooster 1077 descending in freefall. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media NowBooster 1077’s landing burn at LZ-1. Photo: Ed Cordero, Florida Media Now
The US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron has released their Mission Execution Forecast for tomorrow’s planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying NG’s Cygnus cargo craft towards the International Space Station. They are predicting nearly ideal conditions, with only a 5% chance of a Probability of Violation, meaning they expect a 95% chance of acceptable weather conditions.
The 01/29/2024 forecast from the 45th Weather Squadron. Courtesy US Space Force
Launch Time & Location
The NG-20 mission will launch from SpaceX’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch time is an instantaneous window 12:07 PM EST. If for some reason the launch is delayed, there is a backup launch opportunity available on Thursday, February 1 at 11:18 a.m. ET.
Launch Trajectory
Falcon 9 will travel to the northeast, on a 51.2281˚inclination.
Sonic Boom Alert!
NG-20 is an RTLS mission, meaning the booster will return to Cape Canaveral 8.25 minutes after liftoff. As with all RTLS launches, a loud sonic boom will be heard across the Space Coast.
Graphic: Wave pressure at a distance of 5 miles (8.05 km). Via Acoustical Society of America.
Launch Viewing
Banana River Bridge
For unobstructed views of the liftoff and landing, the Banana River Bridge on FL 528 (aka The Beachline, and sometimes erroneously called A1A) is your best bet.
Basic Overview
Launch View
View from the Banana River Bridge. Photo: Charles Boyer
Landing View
View of Booster Landing From Banana River Bridge Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Jetty Park
Jetty Park offers a closer view of the returning booster and landing, but it has an occluded view of the launch.
Jetty Park is located at 100 Jetty Park Rd, Port Canaveral, FL 32920.
Others
Playalinda Beach in the Cape Canaveral National Seashore will likely be open for this launch. It is quite far from the launch and landing, but you should still get some great views.
Parks along US1 In Titusville are further away from the action as well, but especially in the southern end of town, for example at Kennedy Point Park, good views are available.
Cocoa Beach also will have some good views of the rocket flight, but you are not going to see the liftoff and perhaps the landing burns. You will definitely feel the sonic boom, however!
Partial timelapse of Falcon 9’s flight path from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center on January 28, 2024 as seen from Rotary Park in Titusville. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites for their orbital-based Internet service tonight from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 booster. Liftoff was at 8:10 PM EST from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. Roughly eight-and-a -half minutes after liftoff, Booster B1062 touched down safely near the Bahamas completed its work for the evening. Simultaneously, the second stage continued to carry the company’s payload to orbit, which it achieved successfully at about the same time the first stage booster was touching down.
Booster B1062 late in its 18th flight. Photo: Ed Cordero / Florida Media Now
Mission Trajectory
Tonight’s launch was to the southeast, as has been customary with other launches of the Group 6 batch of Starlink satellites.
18th Flight for Booster B1062
Tonight’s flight was the16th flight for the first stage booster B1062.
It previously launched CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat HOTBIRD 13G, mPOWER-a, PSN SATRIA, and seven Starlink missions. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Bahamas.
The booster will be returned to Port Canaveral and then transferred to SpaceX’s Hangar X facility at Kennedy Space Center for inspect and ostensibly re-use on a future mission.
Next Launch
On Tuesday, January 30th SpaceX will launch Northrup-Grumman’s Cygnus CRS-2 towards the International Space Station aboard a Falcon 9. This launch will be the 20th resupply mission carried out as part of NG’s Commercial Resupply contract with NASA, and will ferry supplies for the station’s crew, equipment, as well as new scientific experiments to the orbiting outpost.
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