A pre-sunrise rocket engine test at Florida’s Space Coast has pushed NASA and SpaceX another step closer to launching their next long-duration astronaut mission to the International Space Station. At 3:16 a.m. EST (0816 UTC) on Sunday, Feb. 8, SpaceX conducted a static fire of its Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. During the brief but critical test, all nine Merlin 1D engines on the rocket’s first stage ignited simultaneously for roughly 10 seconds at Space Launch Complex 40, confirming engine performance and validating key vehicle systems ahead of flight.
Credit:SpaceX
Engineers will now pore over telemetry and performance data from the test to ensure the launch vehicle is ready to proceed toward launch day. The campaign also includes a dry dress rehearsal, a full end-to-end practice of launch day operations that stops just short of fueling the rocket.
Meanwhile, preparations are intensifying on the crew side. NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European astronaut Sophie Adenot representing the European Space Agency, and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev of Roscosmos will suit up at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkouts Building before being driven to the launch pad to rehearse boarding their spacecraft, the Crew Dragon Freedom.
The quartet will fly in upgraded SpaceX flight suits, an improved design first worn operationally by Crew-11 pilot Mike Fincke during the mission that wrapped up in January. Once in orbit, Crew-12 is slated to spend roughly eight months aboard the ISS, conducting scientific research, technology demonstrations, and station maintenance.
The upcoming launch will also mark several milestones on the ground. It will be only the second human spaceflight to lift off from SLC-40, a pad historically used for cargo and satellite missions. In addition, SpaceX plans to recover the Falcon 9 booster on its newly commissioned Landing Zone 40, with booster B1101 expected to touch down less than eight minutes after liftoff.
Together, the successful static fire and the remaining rehearsals underscore a mission moving steadily toward flight, as NASA and SpaceX prepare to return the International Space Station to a full, seven-person crew and continue uninterrupted human presence in low Earth orbit.
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