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http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/03/01/spacex-rocket-poised-for-fligh
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The SpaceX Dragon capsule has developed a
problem on its way to the International Space Station.
SpaceX's Falcon rocket launched Friday at 10:10 a.m. ET from Cape
Canaveral on a resupply run to the International Space Station. But
trouble cropped up with its cargo nine minutes after Friday's launch.
The company's billionaire founder Elon Musk is reporting via Twitter
that there's a problem with three of the four thrusters on the Dragon
cargo capsule that was carried into space by the rocket. He says flight
controllers are trying to override the system and fix the problem.
Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three
of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override.
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013
Two thrusters are preferred for the capsule to complete its mission,
according to a statement by Christina Ra, director of communications for
the company.
The unmanned Dragon capsule is filled with more than a ton of space
station supplies and experiments -- rather than the chocolate-vanilla
swirl ice cream carried aboard a previous mission. This time, Dragon's
freezers are going up filled with mouse stem cells, protein crystals and
other research items.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said snacks straight from the orchard
of an employee's father are on board -- and not just apples.
"It's a little bit healthier, I think, than the one that NASA sent last
time," she told reporters on the eve of the flight.
This will be the third space station visit for SpaceX, or more formally
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., the creation of Elon Musk of
PayPal and Tesla electric carmaker fame.
NASA is paying the company to supply the orbiting lab; the contract is
worth $1.6 billion for 12 delivery runs.
The Dragon is slated to arrive at the space station on Saturday morning.
The six-member station crew will use the station's robot arm to grab the
Dragon and attach it to the orbiting complex.
A variety of plant life is going up, including 640 seeds of mouse-ear
cress, a small flowering weed used in research. Other experiments
involve paint; high school students want to see how it will adhere and
dry in space.
Russia, Europe and Japan also provide delivery services to the space
station, but none of those cargo craft can return goods like the SpaceX
Dragon. This latest Dragon will spend more than three weeks at the space
station before departing and parachuting into the Pacific with a full
load of medical specimens, fish, plants and old equipment.
NASA's shuttles used to be the main haulers up and down, but retired two
years ago.
Orbital Sciences Corp., a cargo-flying competitor, hopes to launch its
first orbital test flight from Wallops Island, Virginia, in April,
followed by an actual demo mission to the space station in early summer.
SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, California, is working to modify its Dragon
capsules to transport astronauts to the station in another few years. A
handful of U.S. companies are vying for the job.
Until then, NASA is buying seats for its astronauts on Russian Soyuz
rockets to get to the station.
The company said it has resolved the problem that caused one of the nine
first-stage engines to shut down prematurely shortly after liftoff last
October. A private Orbcomm satellite that was also on the rocket ended
up in a lower-than-desired orbit and burned up upon re-entry.
A flaw in the engine jacket was to blame, Shotwell said, declining to
provide further details.
The main payload, the Dragon capsule, had no trouble reaching the space
station; it was even a little early.
Shotwell stressed that the rocket is built to withstand an engine loss,
"and though you never necessarily want to see it happen, it's nice that
we've demonstrated the vehicle as it was designed."
NASA space station program manager Mike Suffredini said he's satisfied
with the engineering analysis by SpaceX.
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