by After days of uncertainty, the Federal Aviation Administration announced Sunday that SpaceX had received approval to move forward with Monday’s planned launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) $398 million Hera asteroid probe, stormy weather permitting.
With forecasters predicting an 85% chance of dense clouds and showers that would trigger a delay, Hera’s launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for Monday at 10:52 a.m. EDT. The forecast is 75% “no go” if the start is postponed to Tuesday.
“The last hurdle is the weather. So please, please, I want you to do something about it!” Hera project manager Ian Carnelli joked with reporters on Sunday. “It’s the one thing I really can’t control. … It looks like we have some wiggle room at the time of launch, but it’s really hard to say right now.”
Hurricane MiltonMeanwhile, the cyclone remains a threat throughout the week expected to cross the Florida Peninsula Wednesday and move across the Atlantic Ocean near Florida’s Space Coast.
The launch of NASA’s $5.2 billion Europa Clipper mission, scheduled for Thursday from Kennedy Space Center, has been put on hold until the storm passes.
“The safety of launch team personnel is our top priority and every precaution is being taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft,” said Tim Dunn, senior launch director for NASA’s Launch Services Program.
“Once we have the all-clear, followed by a facility assessment and any recovery measures, we will determine the next launch opportunity.”
Likewise, the return to Earth of three astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon ferry was delayed by forecast bad weather.
Crew 8 commander Matthew Dominick, Mike Barratt, Jeanette Epps and cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin launched to the International Space Station last March. They had planned to undock and return to Earth on Monday to complete a 217-day mission.
But NASA announced Sunday that its departure would be delayed until at least Thursday due to expected bad weather. Crew Dragon ferries require calm winds and sea states in the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean to ensure safe launching.
As for the Falcon 9, the FAA approval applied only to the Hera launch while the agency continues to oversee an investigation into what caused the Falcon 9’s second stage to fail on Sept. 28 and reach its target re-entry point Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean missed.
SpaceX routinely sends spent second stages into the atmosphere for destructive separation at the end of its missions to prevent possible collisions or other problems that could add to the space debris already in low-Earth orbit.
The FAA wants to ensure the problem is understood and addressed so that future re-entries are carried out as planned and to ensure that any debris that survives re-entry warming lands harmlessly in targeted ocean “footprints” far from shipping lanes and populated areas .
The second stage of the Hera mission will propel the spacecraft into space, using up all of its fuel. It will not return to Earth, so any malfunction would not pose a safety risk.
“The FAA has determined that the lack of a second reentry stage for this mission adequately mitigates the primary risk to the public in the event of a recurrence of the Crew 9 mission mishap,” the agency said in a statement on the Falcon’s final flight 9.
“Safety will determine the timeline until the FAA completes its review of the SpaceX Crew 9 accident investigation report and when the agency will authorize Falcon 9 to return to regular operations,” the statement concluded.
The FAA did not comment on plans to launch the Europa Clipper on a Falcon Heavy rocket on Thursday for its long-awaited mission to Jupiter and its ice-covered moon Europa.
As with the Hera mission, the Clipper upper stage, which is also used for all Falcon family rockets, will not return to Earth. Instead, it will burn all of its propellants to accelerate the probe to an Earth escape velocity of 25,000 miles per hour.
But FAA approval to proceed, if it comes in a timely manner, will likely be a moot point, at least in the short term. It is unlikely that the Clipper and its Falcon Heavy rocket will be taken to the Kennedy Space Center launch pad until Milton has passed through the area.
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