Spaceflight Insider 12/21/2021
SpaceX found a gap in the rainy Florida weather to launch the CRS-24 Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Liftoff atop a Falcon 9 rocket occurred at 5:07 a.m. EST (10:07 UTC) Dec. 21, 2021, from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The weather throughout the morning was wet with thick clouds in the area. However, conditions improved in the minutes before the planned flight.
This was the 24th launch under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program and the fifth Dragon flight to the ISS in 2021. It was also the 31st and final Falcon 9 launch for SpaceX this year, the most in a calendar year for the company.
The booster used for this mission was a rare new Falcon 9 first stage, core B1069. It was only the second fresh booster used this year.
Following its job in propelling the cargo Dragon spacecraft to orbit, the stage went on to land on SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions, located downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. This recovery was the 100th successful landing for a Falcon 9 first stage since SpaceX’s first landing in December 2015 — six years ago to the day.
More:
https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-exploration-technologies/crs-24-dragon-mission-to-iss-closes-out-record-year-for-spacex/
