Space station shipment on track for Monday launch despite dead computer at orbiting lab
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The International Space Station is about to get some fresh groceries and material for an urgent repair job.
An unmanned SpaceX rocket is on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. It’s scheduled to blast off at 4:58 p.m. Monday (2058 GMT) with more than 2 tons of supplies.
NASA spent much of the weekend debating whether to proceed with the launch. A critical backup computer failed outside the space station Friday. Mission managers decided Sunday to stick with the plan after making sure everything would be safe.
The Dragon supply ship holds a gasket-like material for next week’s computer replacement. Spacewalking astronauts will perform the job April 22. This new material was rushed to the launch site following the outage.
SpaceX is one of two American shippers hired by NASA.
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