The International Space Station Program and SpaceX have selected Saturday, April 19 for the next launch attempt for the Falcon 9 rocket to send the Dragon cargo craft on the company's third commercial resupply mission to the space station. Launch is scheduled for 3:25 a.m. MYT. NASA TV coverage will begin at 2:15 a.m.

 

A launch on Saturday results in a rendezvous with the space station on Monday, April 21 and a grapple at 7:14 p.m. NASA TV coverage will begin at 5:45 p.m. with berthing coverage beginning at 9:30 p.m.

 

The U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron forecast predicts a 40 percent chance of favorable weather, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms that could result in violating the Thick Cloud, Lightning and Flight Through Precipitation rules.

 

SpaceX has settled on a backup launch date of Sunday, April 20 for the best pair of launch dates for the science payloads being delivered to the station. If needed, a Sunday launch would occur at 3:02 a.m. NASA TV coverage would begin at 2 a.m. This would be a three-day transit to the station instead of two days with grapple on Wednesday, April 23. For the backup opportunity on Sunday, there is a 70 percent chance of favorable weather with a chance of violating the Cumulus Cloud and Ground Winds rules.

 

If SpaceX launches Saturday, a contingency spacewalk to replace a failed multiplexer-demultiplexer will be conducted on Thursday, April 24. If SpaceX scrubs Saturday and attempts to launch Sunday, the contingency spacewalk moves earlier to Monday, April 21.