Written by Melissa Kacena, PhD
Yesterday we heard from NASA what the launch campaign will be for Space-X-18 and now we are on pre-flight countdown.
The prime launch attempt (first launch attempt) is on July 21, 2019 at 19:34 EDT.
July 22, 2019 is the back-up launch attempt at 19:12 EDT. If the launch is unable to proceed then we stand down for a day. However, this will not be a day off for us and instead we will be working to re-load our cells so that they have minimal time on the Earth prior to launch.
The third launch attempt is scheduled for July 24, 2019 at 18:23 EDT. If this mission doesn’t launch during the three dates, then it may be delayed until August 2, 2019 at 15:17 EDT. The reasons: range conflicts, as the Kennedy Space Center launch facility is booked with other missions; and traffic in space – yes there are space traffic jams produced by a variety of satellites and debris in multiple orbital planes!
Now with an official launch campaign in hand and our team’s arrival at Kennedy Space Center to prepare our experiment just three weeks away. We have booked our airline reservations and are diligently finalizing our travel plans.
