It looks like SpaceX is going to launch their Falcon 1 rocket today at 4pm Pacific time (11PM GMT). That is, assuming there are no last minute concerns, in which case the launch will be postponed. The launch will be webcast live starting an hour before the launch. Good luck to Elon Musk and the rest of the SpaceX team - I'll be watching with fingers crossed.
Updates:
T-minus 40 minutes?. The webcast is running. For some strange reason, the clock displayed at the lower right is stuck on T+00:00:29, even though the rocket is obviously in a T-minus configuration (i.e. on the ground). It looks like there is a light breeze there, as the trees around the pad are rustling a bit and clouds are passing by overhead. There is no sound right now. Hopefully that'll change.
T-minus 20 minutes?. SpaceX is still showing video of the rocket sitting on the pad with no sound. There have been no views from inside the control center, no voiceovers, nothing. If it wasn't for the clouds passing by overhead, I would think that my video player had frozen. There have been no further updates from either Elon Musk or Kimbal Musk all day, so I'm assuming that the launch is still going ahead.
T-minus 10 minutes?. Still no change in view, no sound, no indication whether the launch is actually going ahead, just clouds placidly passing by overhead. It looks like a beautiful morning on Kwajalein atoll, although breezy. Hopefully the wind isn't a problem for the launch.
T-minus whoknows. The rocket was scheduled for liftoff five minutes ago. Still no countdown, no audio, no information, no update on SpaceX's website, just a rocket sitting on a pad boiling off oxygen.
4:13 PDT. The rocket was scheduled to launch 13 minutes ago. Finally there's some sound!
4:20 PDT. Launch Director announces T-minus 25 minutes and counting.
T-minus 18 minutes. The countdown clock is finally operating, and it sounds like they are repressurizing the Helium in the top stage.
T-minus 15 minutes. Various flight control operators reporting Green across the board, countdown checklist proceeding. They are not planning on having any more holds, and it looks like they are ready for launch.
T-minus 10 minutes. It sounds like everything is proceeding normally, Terminal Count has started.
T-minus 8 minutes. The strongback has moved out of the way.
T-minus 4 minutes. Everything seems to be moving along smoothly.
T-minus 1:25. There is a terminal count abort, Looks like they are going to abort the launch.
Stuck at T-minus 1:02, 4:53 pm PDT. No word yet on what caused the abort, or whether they are going to reset the clock and try again.
4:54 pm PDT. They are going to take the next ten minutes figuring out why there was an abort, but from the sounds of it there was something in their flight path downrange that triggered the abort. (Probably some idiot in a boat.)
5:10 pm PST. The launch has been scrubbed for the day. Dang. I'll post the reason for the scrub as soon as Elon Musk updates the SpaceX website. They are now offloading the propellant and Helium from the rocket. It looks like the delay will be a day or two.
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