SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch: Dragon Preparations Continue

International Space Station Program officials and representatives of SpaceX decided Saturday to continue preparations for the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon cargo craft to the space station.

The launch is slated for Monday 14th April from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The launch will go ahead despite the failure Friday of a backup MDM computer communications component that provides redundancy for commanding the Mobile Transporter rail car on the truss of the station. 

A final decision on whether to launch Dragon Monday will not be made until another status meeting is conducted Sunday morning.

NASA has rescheduled its SpaceX prelaunch briefing allow for operational reviews in the morning.

It now will be held at 1 p.m. EDT at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. For updates on the schedule of events for Sunday, call the Kennedy News Center recording at 321-867-2525.

The component, called a multiplexer demultiplexer (MDM) is one of more than a dozen housed on the truss of the station that routes computer commands to various systems on the outpost.

The failure Friday to a box called EXT-2, a backup box to a prime component in the S0 truss that measures 10.5 x 14.9 x 16.4 inches and weighs 50.8 pounds, occurred during a routine health check of the device.

The prime multiplexer continues to operate flawlessly, and there has been no impact to station operations.

The crew was informed of the problem and is in no danger, continuing its normal complement of research work and routine maintenance.

A reboost of the station using the ISS Progress 53 thrusters was conducted Saturday as planned and placed the laboratory at the correct altitude for Soyuz crew landing and launch operations in May.