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CRS-34's Double Scrub: T-Minus 30 Seconds & the Science at Stake
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
SpaceX's CRS-34 cargo mission was scrubbed twice in two days — the second abort triggered at T-minus thirty seconds by a cumulus cloud violation. From bone-loss scaffolds to bacterial biofilms, the experiments waiting on that Falcon 9 are as compelling as the launch drama itself.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
A SpaceX cargo mission to the International Space Station has now been scrubbed twice in two days, and the second abort happened at T-minus thirty seconds. That's the sharpest possible illustration of why launch weather rules exist and why they don't bend.
The next attempt is now scheduled for six oh five PM Eastern on Friday, May fifteenth. The weather outlook, as of the May thirteenth countdown, was again showing ninety-five percent favorable.
The payload is worth understanding, because it's not just supplies. Around eight hundred and thirty kilograms of the cargo is dedicated to science experiments, and several of them are directly relevant to where human spaceflight is heading next.
A separate experiment called SPARK focuses on something called spaceflight-associated anemia. The working idea is that the spleen may be breaking down red blood cells at an elevated rate during microgravity exposure.
The ODYSSEY experiment takes a different angle. It's comparing how bacterial biofilms grow in actual microgravity against how they grow in Earth-based simulators designed to mimic space conditions.
The real watchpoint now is simple. Does the May fifteenth window hold?
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