posted 07-24-2019 08:59 AM               

Please use this topic to discuss SpaceX's eighteenth Dragon cargo flight to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract.

posted 07-24-2019 09:00 AM               

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, July 24, 2019, for launch of its eighteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-18) at 6:24 p.m. EDT, or 22:24 UTC, from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Dragon will separate from Falcon 9’s second stage about nine minutes after liftoff and attach to the space station on Friday, July 26.

A backup launch opportunity is available on Thursday, July 25 at 6:01 p.m. EDT, or 22:01 UTC.

posted 07-24-2019 09:02 AM               

The CRS-18 Dragon is flying with tags for its two previous flights to the International Space Station (CRS-6, CRS-13) and NASA's Apollo 50 logo.

posted 07-24-2019 05:31 PM               

Standing down today due to weather; backup launch opportunity is tomorrow at 6:01 p.m. EDT, 22:01 UTC.

posted 07-24-2019 05:42 PM               

The outside of the Dragon has been outfitted with four ceramic heat shield tiles we are testing for our currently-in-development Starship vehicle. You might be able to see those black tiles at the bottom of the capsule just above Dragon's trunk. These test-only Starship tiles are being added to this mission to gather data in advance of flying crew on future Starship missions. This is similar to the addition of test tiles to previous CRS missions to gather data in advance of flying people on our Crew Dragon vehicle. It is also worth noting that SpaceX and NASA evaluated each test tile to ensure there is no elevated risk to tonight's CRS mission.

posted 07-25-2019 04:39 PM               

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, July 25 at 6:01 p.m. EDT, or 22:01 UTC, for launch of its eighteenth Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-18) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Dragon will separate from Falcon 9's second stage about nine minutes after liftoff and attach to the space station on Saturday, July 27.

posted 07-25-2019 05:17 PM               

Falcon 9 booster has landed on Landing Zone 1!

Second stage engine burn complete. Dragon confirmed in good orbit. Dragon's solar arrays have deployed.

posted 07-25-2019 05:30 PM               

As I sit working at my new rearranged-desk top office, I am able to completely view the Falcon 9 launch from out of my big home-office window facing to the east where most of the pads are.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spot the return flight of Falcon 9's booster stage to LZ-1, mainly due to a cloud bank covering the south-east sky of Pad 13.

But overall, it was a great experience and the vibration and shaking of the window and certain areas of the house were exhilarating, to say the least. It was a shattering first stage return sonic boom heard from within my office as well...a cool thing.