SpaceX
SpaceX's Falcon 9 stands on Launch Pad 39A. It's the dawn of a new era for the platform that bid adieu to Apollo 11, the first and last space shuttle launches, and many other important NASA missions.
Launch Pad 39A has seen some things. Among the various history-making missions that have blasted off from its hallowed grounds are:
Apollo 4, the first uncrewed test flight of the Saturn V, the most powerful rocket that's ever flown
Apollo 8, which sent the first men into orbit around the moon
A little thing called Apollo 11, wherein Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on world that was not Earth
The first and last launches of the space shuttle, as well as many others in between
Now, the launch pad is about to see a new kind of action. If weather allows, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will blast off from 39A at 10:01am Eastern on Saturday, February 18. It'll be the first commercially owned, non-NASA rocket to launch from the historic pad, and you can watch it right here:
The Falcon 9 will carry 5,500 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station. The cargo includes more than 250 science experiments, including: SAGE III, a device that will attach to the outside of the space station to measure gases in the atmosphere; Raven, which will test sensors and avionics that could one day help autonomous spacecraft rendezvous and dock with one another; and an experiment that will monitor how the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA mutates in space, in hopes of predicting how the superbug may mutate on Earth in the future.
As of Friday afternoon, there is a 70 percent chance that the weather will be fit for launch. If things don't go as planned, SpaceX will reschedule for February 19 at 9:38am.
After the launch, SpaceX will attempt to land the rocket booster at the Cape Canaveral Air Force station. The Dragon capsule full of cargo will reach the space station two days after launch.
SpaceX's first launch from Pad 39A was ushered in by the September 2016 fire that destroyed Launch Complex 40 while the Falcon 9 was being fueled.
SpaceX
Another view of the Falcon 9 on Launch Pad 39A.
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