Launch scrubbed

SpaceX to try again today to send cargo, experiments

will try for a second time this morning to send cargo and science experiments to the International Space Station, a day after the launch was scrubbed, just 13 seconds before lift-off.

The window for the mission opens at 9:38 a.m., and marks a return to activity for Launch Complex 39A.

That was the site of a rocket that carried the first U.S. astronauts to the moon. It was also the site of the last manned mission to leave U.S. soil in 2011.

SpaceX officials released the following statement after the scrub:

“Standing down to take a closer look at an engine actuator on the second stage. 9:38 a.m. ET (Sunday) is our next earliest launch opportunity.”

The glitch threw off well-laid plans for some who had gathered at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday for a public viewing.

“It’s disappointing,” said Robbie Haney of Grayslake, Ill., who was in Central Florida visiting friends in Tampa Bay and attended the viewing with her husband Ken.

They made a specific trip to KSC to check out their first-ever launch.

Ken Haney said increased activity from private companies has been fun to watch.

“It always brings tears to your eyes to see what we are doing and what we send into space,” said Haney, 66.

If all goes well today, it will be the first from Florida for SpaceX since a rocket exploded at Launch Complex 40 on Sept. 1.

That accident forced the company to accelerate a plan to refurbish Launch Complex 39 and get it ready for this mission.

Gulf War U.S. Navy veteran Todd Ellison of Denver, Colo., was in the area on Saturday visiting friends in West Palm Beach.

He said he has been following Musk’s work and was excited to see activity return to Launch Complex 39A.

“It’s iconic,” he said. “I love what Elon Musk has been doing. This is the best of America.”

When the rocket does soar, SpaceX will attempt to land the first-stage booster on a landing pad south of its launch pad.

When that happens, Central Florida residents could hear something like an explosion as the rocket returns to the atmosphere.

The last time that happened, a sonic boom rattled windows and touched off concern from area residents.

In a wide-ranging news conference on Friday, SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said the historic nature of the launch had her anticipating it more than any other launch she has seen as a SpaceX employee during the past 14 years.

The payload in the Dragon Spacecraft capsule includes hundreds of science exSpaceX periments, including some related to autonomous vehicles, lighting and biological tissue regeneration.

For Connie Tetro of Long Island, N.Y., those experiments are a side attraction to a return to a pad that has hosted some of the more memorable U.S. space flights.

“When I was younger, I used to watch all of the flights,” she said. “This is history. It brings back emotions from childhood.”

RED HUBER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A planned SpaceX rocket on Launch Complex 39A was scrubbed Saturday 13 seconds before it was expected to launch.