Well before sunrise on Tuesday, 6:33 AM EDT with sunrise at 7:22 AM, SpaceX is set to launch a cargo payload of about 6300 pounds to the ISS. The mission is known as CRS-35 and, yes, the "35" means it's the 35th of these Commercial Resupply Service missions.
This mission will deliver the fourth pair of iROSA solar arrays which will be used to provide additional power to the station.
The mission can be watched via NASASpaceflight (.com) or via Space.com's link on NASA video on YouTube as well. The NASA Spaceflight video will start around one hour before liftoff, while the Space.com video starts quite a bit later 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT) or 45 minutes after NASASpaceflight.com's video starts.
Not the last launch but a "file photo" of a 2021 Cargo Dragon launch (where "file photo" means the file is my Blogger account), CRS-21 mission lifting off December 2020 - SpaceX Photo
Well, now! That was a spectacular launch! It was the perfect time of day for "jellyfish" viewing. Amazing!
ReplyDelete"This mission will deliver the fourth pair of iROSA solar arrays...." What, more solar panels for a station that will be de-orbited soon? It is already mostly solar panels. What are they doing up there, smelting steel?
ReplyDeleteWell, solar cells do have a service life beyond which their power output has dropped to levels that aren't acceptable. No, I don't know how much drop, or what percent of "new" they're running at, but I think it's more keeping the station usable than improving it.
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