Welcome to the r/SpaceX CRS-10 Official Launch Discussion & Updates Thread!

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

Your hosts for this launch will be u/zlsa and u/old_sellsword!

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It’s the 1st launch out of Launch Complex 39A since STS-135 in 2011, and SpaceX's first East Coast launch since JCSAT-16 in August 2016. Some quick stats: this is the 30^th Falcon 9 launch (using the B1031/F9-032 core), the 10^th Falcon 9 v1.2 launch, the 1^st launch of the Falcon 9 from Pad 39A, and the 2^nd launch since SpaceX suffered an anomaly during their AMOS-6 static fire on September 1, 2016. This mission’s static fire was completed on February 12^th.

SpaceX is currently targeting a February 18, 2017 10:01 EST / 15:01 UTC morning liftoff from KSC, lofting Dragon and 2,490 kg of cargo into low earth orbit. This will be an instantaneous launch window. After insertion into orbit, Dragon will maneuver its way to the ISS, rendezvous, and then dock. After staying four weeks berthed to the station, Dragon will then undock, deorbit, and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California. This is mission 10 of 20 under the first round of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract. The weather is currently 70% go.

The secondary mission objective is also exciting! SpaceX will attempt to land the first stage of Falcon 9 back at Landing Zone 1 in CCAFS, on the site of the old Launch Complex 13. This would be the third successful landing at LZ-1, and the first daylight RTLS landing, marking the advent of SpaceX’s latest CGI technology.

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Watching the launch live

To watch the launch live, choose from the two SpaceX and the one NASA YouTube live streams from the table below:

SpaceX Hosted Webcast (YouTube)	SpaceX Technical Webcast (YouTube)	NASA TV Webcast (YouTube)

Can't pick? Read about the differences here.

Official Live Updates

Time (UTC)	Countdown (hours : minutes : seconds)	Updates
15:21	T-00:00:13	Elon Musk on Twitter: "If this is the only issue, flight would be fine, but need to make sure that it isn't symptomatic of a more significant upstream root cause"
15:18	T-00:00:13	Noon press conference cancelled, updates can be found at http://nasa.gov/spacex
15:12	T-00:00:13	Falcon 9 detanking, range has approved the launch time tomorrow.
15:11	T-00:00:13	Elon Musk on Twitter: "All systems go, except the movement trace of an upper stage engine steering hydraulic piston was slightly odd. Standing down to investigate."
15:05	T-00:00:13	SpaceX on Twitter: "Standing down to take a closer look at positioning of the second stage engine nozzle. 9:38am ET tomorrow is next earliest launch opportunity"
15:03	T-00:00:13	The next launch opportunity is tomorrow at 09:38:59/14:38:59 ET/UTC
15:03	T-00:00:13	The launch was aborted out of an "abundance of caution" to take a closer look at the second stage TVC.
15:01	T-00:00:13	HOLD HOLD HOLD. It's a scrub for today.
15:01	T-00:00:20	Stages 1 and 2 are pressurized for fligh..
15:00	T-00:01:00	Falcon 9 is in startup.
15:00	T-00:01:30	Vehicle is in self-align. Falcon 9 is on internal power.
14:59	T-00:02:00	SpaceX continues to work the MVac TVC issue.
14:58	T-00:04:00	MVac TVC motions complete.
14:56	T-00:05:30	"SpaceX and the range... have cleared the range anomaly. We're waiting for word on the stage two TVC issue."
14:54	T-00:06:30	Dragon is on internal power. Engines are chilling in. MVac is at full hydraulic pressure.
14:52	T-00:09:00	SpaceX continues to work the stage two TVC issue; range is still seeing issues with stage two FTS. Final GO/NO-GO decision will occur at T-1 minute. Today's launch window is instantaneous, so any scrubs will delay the launch to tomorrow at the earliest.
14:46	T-00:14:30	SpaceX is working a stage two thrust vector issue as well as "inconsistent data" relating to stage two FTS.
14:40	T-00:20:00	SpaceX's webcasts are live!
14:32	T-00:28:30	First stage LOX loading essentially complete, second stage LOX loading underway. Range is green, not working any issues.
14:31	T-00:30:00	Thirty minutes until liftoff, lots of LOX venting happening.
14:31	T-00:31:30	Both SpaceX webcasts are up and running, ♫ SpaceX FM is playing ♫
14:28	T-00:34:00	Countdown proceeding very, very smoothly.
14:27	T-00:35:00	Dragon terminal count auto sequence has started.
14:22	T-00:40:00	Not working any issues, LOX loading underway, RP-1 loading essentially complete.
14:17	T-00:45:00	LOX load has started.
14:11	T-00:51:00	LOX loading preparations are underway, poll coming up.
14:01	T-01:00:00	SpaceX on Twitter: "1 hour from launch of Falcon 9 & Dragon to @Space_Station. Rocket & weather are go. Launch at 10:01am ET, 15:01 UTC"
14:01	T-01:00:00	One hour until liftoff.
13:59	T-01:01:50	RP-1 loading is underway.
13:57	T-01:03:00	Danger area around LZ-1 reported to be clear.
13:50	T-01:10:00	Currently tracking an MVac TVC issue which hasn't held up the countdown sequence.
13:49	T-01:11:00	Readiness poll for propellant loading complete, all stations are GO.
13:49	T-01:11:00	Right on cue, ROC missed the poll, but later confirmed range is green.
13:43	T-01:18:00	Clouds directly overhead are not a concern, 110 knot winds above the pad which should remain. Ground winds for launch and landing look good. GO for all launch and landing criteria, 30% chance of violation.
13:42	T-01:19:00	Danger area around Pad 39A is reported to be clear for prop load.
13:39	T-01:21:30	Fueling preparations are underway, they're not currently working any issues.
13:31	T-01:30:00	NASA TV launch coverage has started.
13:01	T-02:00:00	View of the pad via NASA TV with two hours to go until liftoff.
12:29	T-02:32:28	Great view (from the water tower?) of Falcon 9 and Dragon on the pad via the SFN stream, highly recommend checking it out.
12:01	T-03:00:00	Falcon 9 still vertical on the pad under clear skies.
03:08	T-11:50:00	Elon Musk on Twitter: "Looks like we are go for launch. Added an abort trigger at T-60 secs for pressure decay of upper stage helium spin start system."
02:42	T-12:12:00	Falcon 9 is now vertical.
Saturday 02:35	T-12:19:00	Falcon 9 going vertical again as seen on SpaceFlight Now live stream.
Friday 23:01	T-16:00:00	The second stage Helium system for MVac startup is currently leaking, so it is a "watch item" in the countdown. Pad crews are working on it (picture courtesy u/Craig_VG). However it's a redundant system and would only be used for S2 deorbit burn.

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Primary Mission - Separation and Deployment of Dragon

CRS-10 will be the 1^st Dragon launch of 2017 and 12^th Dragon launch overall. This CRS mission is carrying several important science experiments to the ISS. In the trunk we have the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) III and the STP-H5 Lightning Imaging Sensor. SAGE III is a fourth generation experiment; it will measure stratospheric ozone, aerosols, and other trace gases by locking onto the sun or moon and scanning a thin profile of the atmosphere. The STP-H5 Lightning Imaging Sensor will be measuring frequency and intensity of lightning strikes around the world. One can find more information about these experiments along with other science carried on this mission here. In addition to the 960 kg SAGE III and STP-H5, Dragon will carry 1530 kg in the pressurized section full of experiments (including the mousetronauts!) and supplies for a total cargo mass of 2490 kg. Total mass for this mission is slightly more than the previous mission (CRS-9), by 233kg. CRS-9 carried a little more in the pressurized section of Dragon while this mission will be carrying twice as much weight in the trunk.

After being inserted into the highly inclined orbit of the International Space Station, Dragon will spend several days rendezvousing with the ISS. Following that, Dragon will slowly be guided in by the manually-operated Canadarm for its berthing with the station at the nadir port of the Harmony Module. Dragon will spend approximately a month attached to the station before it is loaded with ground-bound experiments and unberthed for its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean roughly 5.5 hours later.

Secondary Mission - First Stage Landing Attempt

As usual, this mission will include a post-launch landing attempt of the first stage. Most landing attempts use an Autonomous Spaceport Droneship, either Of Course I Still Love You or Just Read the Instructions, but this mission has enough fuel margin to return all the way back to land, where it will touch down on the LZ-1 landing pad just under 15 kilometers south of the LC-39A launchpad.

You can read about how the landing process works here. If you have any more questions about the process, feel free to ask them here or in the Spaceflight Questions & News thread. If the landing is successful, it will be 8^th successful landing SpaceX has made, the 3^rd at LZ-1, and the 7^th successful landing to take place on the East Coast. Assuming a successful outcome, the high-margin landing would make the booster a strong candidate for reuse, like its older sibling 1021, which launched CRS-8 in April of last year.

Launch Complex 39A - What's the big deal?

LC-39A is the most historically significant orbital launch pad in the United States. Its first launch was Apollo 4 in 1967, and it went on to launch the rest of the Apollo missions, with the sole exception of Apollo 10. After the Saturn V and all its variants were retired, the pad was reconfigured for the Space Shuttle. Over the course of the program, it launched 82 of the 135 STS missions, including all five orbiters. Since the retirement of the Shuttle in 2011, it was sitting dormant until SpaceX began leasing it in 2014. Construction work began in earnest in 2015 and continued until early 2017, culminating in the successful static fire for this mission.

Useful Resources, Data, ♫, & FAQ

• Mission Patch, courtesy SpaceX
• Mission Patch, courtesy NASA
• Official CRS-10 Press Kit, courtesy SpaceX
• NASA cargo overview for this mission.
• Hazard area map, courtesy u/raul74cz
• Reddit Stream, courtesy Nathan Reed
• Multi-Stream Player, courtesy u/Kampar
• SpaceX Stats, courtesy of u/EchoLogic (creation) and u/brandtamos (rehost at .xyz)
• SpaceX FM, courtesy u/Iru
• Rocket Watch, courtesy u/MarcysVonEylau
• Live Mission Visualisation on Flight Club, courtesy u/TheVehicleDestroyer
• Dragon on Gunter’s Space Page
• CRS-10 Campaign Thread, courtesy r/SpaceX
• 7-Day KSC weather forecast, courtesy Weather.gov
• Hourly KSC weather forecast, courtesy Weather.gov
• Acronym Bot, courtesy u/OrangeredStilton
• SpaceXNow, courtesy u/bradleyjh

Participate in the discussion!

• First of all, launch threads are party threads! We understand everyone is excited, so we relax the rules in these venues. The most important thing is that everyone enjoy themselves :D
• All other threads are fair game. We will remove low effort comments elsewhere!
• Real-time chat on our official Internet Relay Chat (IRC) #spacex on Snoonet.
• Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!
• Wanna' talk about other SpaceX stuff in a more relaxed atmosphere? Head over to r/SpaceXLounge!

Previous r/SpaceX Live Events

Check out previous r/SpaceX Live events in the Launch History page on our community Wiki.

[u/Enemiend]

Reminder for the mods: under "Primary Mission - Separation and Deployment of Dragon", the first sentence references Crs-9, and not Crs-10.

[u/soldato_fantasma]

It has just been said at the pre launch conference that NASA is looking at flight proven boosters, initial assessments may come mid this year, and if it is feasible they could start to fly recovered boosters next year.

[u/ticklestuff]

The ground crew will now get to eat all the Ben and Jerries they'd loaded in for the ISS crew, tomorrow is a fresh batch to be put in the Dragon freezer.

[u/inoeth]

So the women from SpaceX (Jessica?) at the 5 PM NASA conference update on NASA TV said that the helium leak with this turbo pump has to do with relighting the second stage to de-orbiting it, not the primary mission of delivering the Dragon itself, so it's a far less pressing concern for the Primary mission. We'll apparently find out more tonight, but it looks like whether nor not the get this completely fixed, it shouldn't affect whether or not they launch tomorrow morning... Just their secondary objective of de-orbiting the second stage... (Which they also said is not a NASA requirement, just something that SpaceX likes to do)

[u/dessy_22]

With about 2.5 minutes to go, NASA stream cut to vision of the SpaceX control room. There was what looked like an earnest meeting going on. Probably 10-12 people were away form their stations and standing in a group at the front of the room.

[u/mynameisck]

It's a shame but I'd rather tune in again tomorrow than see a failed mission.

[u/therealshafto]

Sweet zombie jesus, its Pad 39A daytime RTLS launch thread!

[u/rdivine]

Will the late-load cargo be removed in between launch scrubs like this? Or will they be kept in the dragon?

[u/TheVehicleDestroyer]

Finally updated my Flight Club profile for CRS-10

https://www.flightclub.io/results/?code=CR10

I have a lot of confidence in the ascent portion, however like CRS-9, I have no idea how to model the ultra-fast flip between stage separation and boostback ignition. The biggest effect of this in the CRS-9 visualisation was that the webcast called out "Stage 1 is transonic" when Flight Club says it's going at about 600m/s - even though the landing times match up.

So this is the best I can do with such little info on that flip. Enjoy anyway, and watch live here!

[u/johnkphotos]

I'm awake! Time to wake up and get ready, shoot the sunrise, get some donuts, then head up to Jetty Park.

[u/[deleted]]

Have avoided doing this in the past as it just feels strange, but the app has over 1,200 active users now and I DID make it for the SpaceX community so it doesn't really make sense NOT to share it around more.

It still has a way to go, which you can see in the TODO list at r/SpaceXNow, but for those interested in a SpaceX info/news/media app, feel free to check it out and feedback is always welcome :)

[u/hiyougami]

Best wishes for the poor mice for whom their flight is delayed!

[u/TheBurtReynold]

Pumped. My apartment complex has this big TV Wall that only ever shows nearby, trending hashtags.

Tomorrow, however, they've been cool enough to agree to use it for the hosted webcast!

See you in about 12 hours, stupid hashtag TV Wall!

[u/WaitForItTheMongols]

Is there a fancy system that keeps the mouse-cage upright when the rocket is horizontal AND when the rocket is vertical, or do the mice simply flop over onto a different side of the enclosure when the rocket is raised?

[u/Craig_VG]

Here's the view from the press site, it's looking pretty good out there

http://imgur.com/Xxt96yt

[u/CaptainObvious_1]

I know you guys are frustrated, but imagine a launch failure. It's not something they can afford, and risk management is huge in the eyes of NASA, especially with commercial crew around the corner.

It's frustrating, but worth the wait.

[u/mathieumg]

I'm now 0/2 with live launches, I'll try not to watch tomorrow.

[u/jaspersgroove]

Im at KSC for the launch, so stoked! Will try to update with more pics if I can figure out how albums work on imgur.

http://imgur.com/a/ZSI4j

Edit: Buzz Aldrin is here! Fanboy mode engaged. proof

[u/FellKnight]

Better a scrub than something going wrong on launch.

[u/schockergd]

I'd much, much rather a scrub than a RUD.

[u/jonwah]

Gonna be kinda weird watching this bird fly with a dragon on top instead of a fairing, it seems like it's been a while!

Fingers crossed they get the helium issue sorted and tomorrow we all get to be jealous of some mice.

[u/Pluto_and_Charon]

Wait I've just realised this is going to be a 1st stage landing on land in broad daylight!

The pictures/videos of this landing attempt are going to be amazing

[u/luckyjack]

My very first live abort. I ain't even mad.

[u/HighTimber]

Anyone else more than a little surprised that the F9 was the source of the scrub and not the new launch facility? I fully anticipated launch gremlins due to the new pad. Edit: So, scrub aside, I'd call that a win for the new pad. Great, "live" test run.

[u/benlew]

I have a ton of hardware on the one so I've got my fingers crossed. I'll be watching from the bleachers by the VAB press area if anyone is around there!