You can watch the live launch of the Dragon spaceship on Tuesday, December 21st.
A shiny new rocket will take to the skies here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 5:06 a.m. The time is 1006 GMT. A robotic Dragon cargo capsule will be lofted from Pad 39 and will carry fresh supplies, experiment hardware, and other gear for the astronauts.
You can watch the launch on this page and here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA. You can watch on NASA TV or on the launch website.
After two Saturday liftoffs for Turkey's Turksat 5B satellite and the company's own Starlink internet satellites, Tuesday's launch attempt will be the third for the company. If the Dragon can get off the ground, that's all that's left.
The record 11th flight of the Falcon 9 rocket was launched.
The weather outlook is not good going into Tuesday's attempt, with the 45th Weather Squadron predicting a 30% chance of favorable conditions for liftoff. The main concerns are the clouds, the electricity rule and the thick clouds.
If the rocket can't get off the ground, there is another chance on Wednesday. The booster recovery weather gets worse as higher seas are expected on Wednesday.
If Dragon can get off the ground, it will dock with the space on Wednesday.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed that the launch can get off the ground on Tuesday," Arlena Moses, launch weather officer at with 45th Space Delta at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station said during a prelaunch news briefing on Monday. The weather will improve going into Wednesday if we can't.
There are fresh supplies for the space station.
Tuesday's cargo launch, dubbed the CRS-24 mission, is the fourth flight under the company's second commercial contract with NASA. It's the eighth cargo craft to fly this year. The Crew Dragon is almost the same as the Cargo Dragon, and it allows NASA to send more cargo to the station than before.
A host of science investigations that focus on life sciences, medicine and much more are supported by research experiments and crew supplies inside this particular cargo craft.
The Cargo Dragon is an important part of NASA's commercial program, according to Bob Dempsey, the acting deputy chief scientist for the space station program. It also has a unique ability that no other cargo-toting craft does: the ability to bring cargo back home.
The CASIS PCG20 investigation, which is aProtein crystallization experiment from Merck, is one of the disciplines that returning cargo is crucial to. As part of the investigation, the team will be studying how the crystals grow in space to improve cancer treatments on Earth.
The ability to receive the experiment back within hours will make a big difference in the data, according to Paul Reichert, principal investigator for Merck.
Once the crystals return to Earth, they are affected by gravity. The data collected will be preserved if they are returned quickly.
A bright moon is in the background as the new Falcon 9 rocket stands atop its cargo Dragon for the next NASA mission. The image is from the SpaceX.
Two different universities are conducting experiments in space. The University of Idaho will be the first to research howbacteria grow on different types of surfaces in order to develop a way to reduce their spread on future missions.
"When astronauts touch surfaces in space, they can spread germs," he said. This will look at the materials that are resistant tobacteria.
Columbia University in New York will be looking at the interactions between two different types ofbacteria. Studies have shown that the two specific types ofbacteria can make them more dangerous. The data will be published online and could lead to better antibiotic treatments for future astronauts.
Tide detergent will be sent to the space to see how it holds up in the microgravity environment. Future astronauts may be able to do laundry as they go further out into space.
"We will have food and gifts for the crew when they are on the space station," Montalbano said.
Montalbano wouldn't say what Santa was bringing to the station's crew, but he did say that there would be holiday treats like turkey and a host of other fresh foods.
There is a new Falcon 9.
The 31st flight of the year for the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket was launched on Tuesday. Only the second launch of the year is expected to feature a new Falcon 9 first stage.
It will be the company's sixth Dragon launch of the year, which includes two crew missions as well as three previous cargo flights. The Dragon that will be used in Tuesday's flight is a previously used cargo craft that flew on the CRS-22 mission in June. The company has had two Dragon cargo craft parked to the space station most of the year.
Nine minutes after the liftoff, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will return to Earth and land on the deck of the "Just Read the Instructions". The massive ship is one of three floating platforms.
The first-stage boosters have been successfully landed 99 times by the company. Saturday's landing will be the 100th overall recovery for the company.
The space station is being chased down by the dragon. The craft will dock at the outpost at 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The time is 09:30 GMT.
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