Crew-2 Mission Completes Launch Readiness Review Written 21 April 2021
SpaceX Crew-2 mission members. Pictured left to right are NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet. | NASA
Space News reports that the NASA and SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station has passed its launch readiness review ahead of its launch, which is scheduled for Thursday at 6:11 a.m. EDT. NASA Commercial Crew Manager Steve Stitch “said officials resolved the one technical issue remaining from the Crew-2 flight readiness review April 15. At that earlier review, SpaceX noted that on a number of recent Falcon 9 launches it loaded slightly more liquid oxygen (LOX) propellant than expected into the rocket’s first stage.” Stich “said a technical review concluded that any additional liquid oxygen was ‘well within family’ of analyses of the rocket, including additional loads on the rocket that the excess propellant might create.” For the mission, SpaceX will launch the Crew Dragon spacecraft Endeavour atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket to be used in the mission “performed a successful static-fire test April 17, followed a day later by a ‘dry dress rehearsal.’”
Full Story (Space News)