SpaceX is targeting Monday, March 31 at 9:46 p.m. ET for Falcon 9’s launch of Fram2 to a polar orbit from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There are three additional launch opportunities within the approximate 4.5-hour window: 11:20 p.m. ET followed by 12:53 a.m. and 2:26 a.m. on Tuesday, April 1. If needed, backup opportunities are available on Tuesday, April 1 starting at the same time.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX. You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.

The Dragon spacecraft supporting this mission previously flew Crew-1 to and from the International Space Station, Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit, and Polaris Dawn, the first commercial mission to conduct an extravehicular activity from Dragon. This will be the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-9, RRT-1, Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1, and two Starlink missions. Following stage separation, Falcon 9’s first stage will land on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

MISSION OBJECTIVES
During their multi-day mission, Dragon and the crew will explore Earth from a polar orbit and fly over Earth’s polar regions for the first time. They will also conduct 22 research studies designed to help advance humanity’s capabilities for long-duration space exploration and understanding of human health in space. Throughout Fram2’s time on-orbit, the crew are planning to take the first x-ray in space, perform exercise studies to maintain muscle and skeletal mass, and grow mushrooms in microgravity. Additionally, after safely returning to Earth, the crew plans to exit from the Dragon spacecraft without additional medical and operational assistance, helping researchers characterize the ability of astronauts to perform unassisted functional tasks after short and long durations in space.

THE CREW
This will be the first human spaceflight for Mission Commander Chun Wang, Vehicle Commander Jannicke Mikkelsen, Vehicle Pilot Rabea Rogge, and Mission Specialist and Medical Officer Eric Philips.

Almost...

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There are some fish in the area saying, "WHAT THE ****, MAN!!!"

T-4:00 for FRAM-2

Love these night launches...

My parents visited Deep South Texas over the weekend. Although their arrival was upended thanks to the flooded Valley International Airport in Harlingen, had to detour instead to San Antonio and rent a U-Haul to drive southward to Brownsville (they forgot their credit cards, and were denied by all car rental companies when attempting to use debit card), and dinner at Starbase was scrubbed, the rest of the weekend was full of SpaceX and South Padre Island goodness. We were all treated to a special tour of Starfactory on Saturday morning. Sadly, no pictures permitted.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark" data-cards="hidden" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The 1-million square foot Starfactory brings many parts of the manufacturing process under one roof for the first time, moving as much system integration work as possible earlier in the build process, with the goal of eventually producing 1,000 Ships a year <a href="https://t.co/vz44XcTTN8">pic.twitter.com/vz44XcTTN8</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1845434891430920423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The 1-million square foot Starfactory brings many parts of the manufacturing process under one roof for the first time, moving as much system integration work as possible earlier in the build process, with the goal of eventually producing 1,000 Ships a year <a href="https://t.co/vz44XcTTN8">pic.twitter.com/vz44XcTTN8</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1845434891430920423?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

From there we got to hovercraft over to South Padre Island, enjoyed drinks by the beach, a tour of the new Sea Turtle Inc. facility, and dinner by the bay.

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A couple months ago I was able to tag along with my wife to rescue cold-stunned sea turtles, which was a helluva adventure along the remote shores between Starbase and SPI. A few days later we then got to release the turtles the morning of the AFC Championship game. A random YouTube channel happened to document the sea turtle release:
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Cool live view. Something to do in a different tab while the server catches up.. :D

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Sounds like a good hearty soup. Cold stunted baby sea turtle soup.

Blue Origin's upcoming all-female spaceflight to launch Monday.
 

Pretty shocking list of woman on the flight. But I guess woman are primarily responsible for Bezos success with Amazon.

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin NS-31 mission is set to be the first all-female spaceflight since 1963, when the Soviet Union’s Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space during a three-day solo mission. The crew will launch from West Texas and includes aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, activist Amanda Nguyễn, CBS Mornings host Gayle King, pop singer Katy Perry, and former TV host and Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sánchez.

NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space
 

NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space

April 9 (UPI) -- NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.

The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.

This is CP, of course poop will be mentioned......ROFL

Hope they had enough room for all the sun visors.

On a scale of 1-10, just how nervous are these women tonight?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...n-mission.html

10

?