An unmanned Dragon resupply vessel launched atop a Falcon-9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL on March 1, 2013 (Photo …
The liftoff and journey into space went smoothly, however once the Dragon spacecraft separated from its second stage, SpaceX officials reported a glitch.
"It appears that, although it achieved Earth orbit, Dragon is experiencing some type of problem right now," SpaceX's John Insprucker was heard to say during the live webcast of the launch.
According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk's Twitter account, the problem seems to be with the spacecraft's maneuvering thrusters.
Issue with Dragon thruster pods. System inhibiting three of four from initializing. About to command inhibit override.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013
When a thruster problem occurs with the Dragon spacecraft, it will not deploy its solar panels until engineers have been able to correct the problem. The solar panels supply all the capsule's power during its flight, so if this problem is not corrected, this may force SpaceX to abort the mission and bring the spacecraft back down to Earth.
Update at 11:07 a.m.: Elon Musk tweeted again about the problem...
Holding on solar array deployment until at least two thruster pods are active
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013
Update at 11:32 a.m.: According to NASAWatch tweets, SpaceX has one thruster working on the Dragon spacecraft, but two are preferred before its solar panels will be deployed.
#SpaceX Statement (1/2): One thruster pod is running. Two are preferred to take the next step which is to deploy the solar arrays.
— NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 1, 2013
#SpaceX Statement (2/2): We are working to bring up the other two in order to plan the next series of burns to get to station. — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) March 1, 2013
Update at 11:41 a.m.: Elon Musk tweeted again (fingers crossed):
Thruster pod 3 tank pressure trending positive. Preparing to deploy solar arrays.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013
Update at 11:53 a.m.: Looks like we have successful deployment of the Dragon's solar panels!
Solar array deployment successful
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 1, 2013
Now, if all goes well after this, the unmanned Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to circle the planet for the next day or so, matching orbits with the ISS for docking early Saturday morning. Once it has arrived, it will deliver over 500 kg of cargo to the station, including food supplies and scientific equipment for the 160 science experiments (50 which are new) that will be conducted by Expedition 34 and Expedition 35 (commanded by none other than our very own Commander Chris Hadfield).
You can watch the launch from liftoff to separation here:
More updates on the situation with the Dragon spacecraft will follow.
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