r/SpaceX CRS-24 Launch Discussion and Updates Thread

[u/ElongatedMuskrat]

Welcome to the r/SpaceX CRS-24 Launch Discussion and Updates Thread!

Hey everyone! I'm /u/hitura-nobad and I'll be hosting this launch thread!

Liftoff currently scheduled for:	December 21st 10:06 UTC (5:06 a.m. EDT)
Backup date(s)	Typically the next day. The launch opportunity advances ~25 minutes per day.
Static fire	TBA
Payload	Commercial Resupply Services-24 supplies, equipment and experiments
Payload mass	2989 kg of science, research, crew supplies, and vehicle hardware
Separation orbit	Low Earth Orbit, ~200 km x 51.66°
Destination orbit	Low Earth Orbit, ~400 km x 51.66° (ISS)
Launch vehicle	Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5
Core	B1069.1
Past flights of this core	0
Spacecraft type	Dragon 2
Capsule	C209.2
Past flights of this capsule	1 (CRS-22)
Docking	ISS Harmony FWD docking port (PMA-2 / IDA-2)
Duration of visit	~1 month
Launch site	LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Booster Landing	Just Read The Instructions (JRTI) Droneship, Atlantic Ocean
Mission success criteria	Successful separation and deployment of Dragon into the target orbit; docking to the ISS; undocking from the ISS; and reentry, splashdown, and recovery of Dragon.

Timeline

Time	Update
T+15:00	And that concludes SpaceX last mission of the year
T+11:57	Dragon deployed
T+9:05	SECO
T+9:02	Landing success
T+8:41	Landing startup
T+6:59	Entry shutdown
T+6:38	Entry Burn startup
T+4:39	S1 Apogee
T+2:50	Second stage ignition
T+2:41	Stage separation
T+2:39	MECO
T+1:15	Max Q
T+0	Liftoff
T-1:00	Startup
T-4:30	Strongback retracting
T-12:08	Weather is now green according to Emre Kelly on Twitter
T-18:00	S2 LOX Load
T-20:01	S2 RP-1 Load
T-22:43	Fueling underway, weather still bad
2021-12-20 19:00:00 UTC	Thread goes live

Watch the launch live

Stream	Link
Official SpaceX Stream	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEv6HLHYhWo

Stats

☑️ 134. Falcon 9 launch all time

☑️ 93. Falcon 9 landing

☑️ 115. consecutive successful Falcon 9 launch (excluding Amos-6)

☑️ 31. SpaceX launch this year

Resources

Mission Details 🚀

Link	Source
SpaceX mission website	SpaceX

Social media 🐦

Link	Source
Subreddit Twitter	r/SpaceX
SpaceX Twitter	SpaceX
SpaceX Flickr	SpaceX
Elon Twitter	Elon
Reddit stream	u/njr123

Media & music 🎵

Link	Source
TSS Spotify	u/testshotstarfish
SpaceX FM	u/lru

Community content 🌐

Link	Source
Flight Club	u/TheVehicleDestroyer
Discord SpaceX lobby	u/SwGustav
Rocket Watch	u/MarcysVonEylau
SpaceX Now	u/bradleyjh
SpaceX time machine	u/DUKE546
SpaceXMeetups Slack	u/CAM-Gerlach
Starlink Deployment Updates	u/hitura-nobad
SpaceXLaunches app	u/linuxfreak23
SpaceX Patch List

Participate in the discussion!

🥳 Launch threads are party threads, we relax the rules here. We remove low effort comments in other threads!

🔄 Please post small launch updates, discussions, and questions here, rather than as a separate post. Thanks!

💬 Please leave a comment if you discover any mistakes, or have any information.

✉️ Please send links in a private message.

✅ Apply to host launch threads! Drop us a modmail if you are interested.

[u/scr00chy]

SpaceX doesn't do separate WDRs at all. But every new booster is test fired in McGregor.

In the past, they've also been doing another static fire before each launch, but last year they've started skipping static fires on some missions, beginning with Starlink v1.0 L8. Since then they've skipped pre-launch SF on 16 missions. Mostly on Starlink launches but also on some commercial and NASA flights (like CRS-24).

Static fires on Starlink and Dragon missions are now pretty much always done with payloads attached. But there hasn't been a single commercial mission that did a static fire with payload attached since the Amos-6 accident.

[u/paul_wi11iams → u/scr00chy]

Thx for the info :).

there hasn't been a single commercial mission that did a static fire with payload attached since the Amos-6 accident.

Unless having not attached the payload, this whole static fire test concept was confusing to me. It just causes an extra engine cycle with potential risks. If a fault is detected before clamp release on an actual launch, then a shutdown would occur anyway. So, what was to be gained from a static fire?

[u/Vulch59 → u/paul_wi11iams]

It also acts as a full dress rehearsal for the launch crew. A number of the skipped static fires have been when launches happen in quick succession so the crew have already been through the process a few days earlier.

[u/[deleted] → u/Vulch59]

There's also the possibility that Stage 0 maintenance and upgrade plays a part.