In spite of good weather at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today, commercial spaceflight company SpaceX had to scrub the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon space capsule, due to a helium leak in the first stage of the rocket, according to a statement released by the company on Monday. This will be the third of 12 flights SpaceX has contracted for with NASA to bring supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
The Dragon is a free-flying space capsule, which can carry large amounts of cargo to the ISS, and safely return it to earth. For this flight, the Dragon has been modified to carry four times as much cargo, contained in both its pressurized section and the unpressurized trunk.
This trip, the Dragon will carry several science experiments, including an optical payload to the ISS that will be used to test two-way laser beam communication with Earth and a vegetable production system, called "Veggie." The system will not only provide edible crops and a homey atmosphere for the astronauts, but serve as a future test bed for research on how plants sense and respond to gravity.
The High Definition Earth Viewing project will also be carried up on this flight. The HDEV includes four HD cameras that will be mounted outside the station to stream live video of Earth to online viewers. After berthing with the ISS, the Dragon will remain for about a month and then return, carrying completed science experiments and other hardware back to earth.
For this launch, SpaceX will attempt to recover the first stage of the Falcon 9 from the ocean after stage separation, although that is not the primary goal of the flight.
The current mission has been delayed several times since March. The next launch opportunity is Friday, though the weather won't be ideal, SpaceX said in it's Livestream update.
Source : http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/leaks-scrub-spacex-launch-to-iss-retry-on-friday/
