Watch LIVE here: Attempt 2 - Elon Musk’s SpaceX & NASA Launching To International Space Station At 3:22pm ET
Alright, I blogged this on Wednesday & then everything was cancelled a mere 17 minutes before liftoff due to bad weather.
This time it looks like everything will be a GO. Once again my pucker factor is high hearing them talking about fuel & oxygen & trajectories & other aspects of the launch as time narrows down past T-10 minutes.
In my Barney style understanding, "engine chill" begins in a moment where cold liquid oxygen will be released to the top of the pumps to keep the engines cool when rockets blast off. If I were on board I'd be shitting my space diaper. Look at those men on the live stream & imagine what's going through their minds right now... Pretty incredible bravery if you ask me.
From Science Alert:
At 3:22 pm ET, SpaceX will hopefully become the first private space company to deliver NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
The two astronauts already strapped in aboard the Crew Dragon are Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, both veteran spacefarers with several missions under their belts. For the second time this week, they have donned the new spacesuits and are patiently waiting as the teams go through the final preparations.
If all goes well, this will mark the first time since the 2011 end of the Space Shuttle program that American spacecraft will carry NASA astronauts to the ISS.
Godspeed, gentlemen. Godspeed.
*UPDATE: THEY MADE IT TO OUTER SPACE AND I'M SWEATING LIKE SUITMAN ON HIS FIRST DAY WALKING BACK INTO HBO. HOLY HELL. It was crazy that you could see Behnken & Hurley the whole time as they were zooming 17,000MPH out of our atmosphere. Now they have a 19 hour journey to the International Space Station where they will dock & then stay for 1 - 4 months. I feel like after the stress of getting up there'd I'd have a big 'no thanks' on coming back down. Whew.
Also, please join me in BOO-ing Trent.