SpaceX is gearing up for the first launch of their Crew Dragon spacecraft this weekend, and forecasts show that the weather will probably not be holding up the inaugural launch of the very special capsule which may end up changing the commercial spaceflight industry in a big way.
According to NBC News, the Demo-1 flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon is scheduled to take place at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday, March 2 at 2:49 a.m. EST. After being carried into space on a Falcon 9 rocket, the Crew Dragon will be docking at the International Space Station on Sunday, March 3, at 5:55 a.m. EST.
This flight will be the first time in history that a commercial spacecraft built to shuttle astronauts around will be heading to the space station. And if all goes according to plan with Space X's Crew Dragon, the next step will be to put human astronauts on board the capsule.
So far, the weather appears to be agreeing with the maiden voyage of the Crew Dragon, according to Space, and on February 26 NASA officials released a statement explaining that there was a very low probability of rain on this weekend's launch date.
"Weak high pressure in advance of a front moving southeast into the area is expected during the launch window with a low probability for rain and weak surface winds and only slight concerns of any cumulus cloud or thick cloud rule violations during the instantaneous launch window."
