SpaceX completes important 'wet dress' rehearsal test for upcoming flight to space station
Monday, March 5, 2012 - 10:30
in Astronomy & Space
SpaceX successfully completed a key test of the Falcon 9 rocket that will fly the first commercial flight to the International Space Station. Called a wet dress rehearsal, SpaceX brought the Falcon 9 "stack" with the Dragon capsule atop to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral on March 1, and loaded it with 76,000 gallons of highly refined kerosene and liquid oxygen fuel. Pre-liftoff operations were conducted as engineers went through a full count-down simulation, stopping at 5 seconds before launch.