OA-7 Pre Launch Briefings, Apr 2017, KSC

UPDATE, April 16:  Although NASA’s April 11 press release states there are two pre-launch briefings as noted below, the press release provides a link to get updates on those briefings.  The information posted today does not mention the 1:00 pm ET “What’s on Board” briefing at all, only the 10:30 mission status briefing.  Participants in the mission status briefing are currently listed as:

• Joel Montelbano, deputy manager, NASA ISS Program
• Frank Culbertson, Space Systems Group President, Orbital ATK
• Vern Thorp, Program Manager for Commercial Missions, United Launch Alliance
• David Craft, Weather Officer, 45th Weather Squadron
  

UPDATE, April 12:   The pre-launch briefings are now scheduled for April 17 at 10:30 am ET (mission status) and 1:00 pm ET (What’s on Board).

UPDATE, April 3:   ULA has announced that the launch will now take place on April 18.  NASA has not announced when the pre-launch briefings will occur, but previously they were scheduled for the day prior to the launch, so they are tentatively shown here as April 17, but that date is NOT CONFIRMED

Note that as of March 18, a decision had not yet been made as to whether to launch on March 23 or March 24.  We will update this posting when more information is available.

NASA will air two pre-launch briefings for the launch of Orbital ATK’s 7th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS).  This launch will take place on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL, rather than Orbital ATK’s own Antares rocket (which launches from Wallops Island, VA).

Orbital ATK’s cargo spacecraft is generically called Cygnus.  The company names each individual Cygnus after a deceased astronaut.  This one is named S.S. John Glenn, in honor of John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth (in 1962), who died in December 2016.

As of March 18, the launch is scheduled for March 24 at 9:00 pm ET, with the pre-launch briefings on March 23.  However, ULA is hoping that the Air Force’s Eastern Test Range, of which Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is a part, will become available a day earlier.  That would make launch on March 23 and the pre-launch briefings on March 22.

On the day of launch, there will be a post-launch briefing.

As of March 18, the two pre-launch briefings are scheduled for March 23, but they could take place a day earlier if the launch moves up.  Whichever day they occur, they will be held at these times be broadcast on NASA TV:

• 1:00-2:30 pm ET, “What’s on Board” science briefing highlighting experiments being taken to the ISS on this mission
• 4:00 pm ET, mission status briefing
  • Kirk Shireman, ISS program manager
  • Frank Culbertson, President, Orbital ATK Space Systems Group
  • Vern Thorp, ULA program manager for NASA missions

On the day of launch, NASA TV launch coverage begins at 8:00 pm ET.   Post-launch coverage will resume at 10:30 pm ET for solar array deployment and include interviews with mission managers.