Canon EOS REBEL T1i
ƒ/14
28 mm
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as excitement builds for the launch tonight. Here’s a short time-lapse video of it going vertical.

You can watch the webcast live starting at 4:55pm, and the narrow launch window is at 5:35pm PDT.

From SpaceX: “If all goes as planned, Dragon will arrive at the station on Wednesday, October 10, when it will be grappled and berthed to the complex for an expected two-week visit. Dragon is scheduled to return to Earth on October 28 for a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of southern California. Dragon is the only space station cargo craft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies back to Earth, including experiments.

Dragon will be filled with about 1,000 pounds of supplies, including critical materials to support the 166 investigations planned for the station’s Expedition 33 crew, of which 63 will be new. Dragon will return with about 734 pounds of scientific materials, including results from human research, biotechnology, materials and education experiments, as well as about 504 pounds of space station hardware.”

This photo by Todd Huffman; others by me and SpaceX below.

15 responses to “SpaceX Erecting”

  1. The nine bells looking pretty
    Falcon 9 Bells

    A SpaceX photo series of the prep at Cape Canaveral
    IMG_2181

    Preparing for the Dragon Dry Dress test:
    KSC-312D-0545_048

    Go SpaceX!
    Go SpaceX

    And prepping for a gimbal test:
    SpaceX Falcon 9 Test Tower Tour

    and photos from mission control from the first ISS mission:
    SpaceX Mission Control — Grabbing a Dragon by the Tail

    How she looked up there before the scorching burn of reentry:
    CRS-1 Mission

    and the Dragon Capsule in post-flight analysis in McGregor, TX:
    The Magic Dragon

    and a close-up by Todd of the field of Florida Orange valves…
    SpaceX Valve Field

  2. Superbes photos Steve.
    We had an awesome surprise yesterday during TEDx Paris, with a cool hello from Space =)
    PhotonQ-TEDx Paris from Space

    Cannot wait for this new launch and adventure !!!

  3. Can’t wait for the launch! All those shots are amazing!

  4. Interesting 33 crew members? and 63 new? You mean astronauts?
    The best experiments are the one done in space, great for humankind!
    By the way we are watching live. Thanks!

  5. Expedition 33 is the Soyuz mission that brought the astronauts to the ISS.

    Expedition 33 Soyuz Launch (201210230006HQ)

    63 of the 166 experiments will be new.

  6. Now clear, Thank you :-)))) Sure! 63 new that is a big number. Another wonderful thing from SpaceX for mankind! Congratulations!

  7. Thanks for the heads up on the launch. Beautiful to see . . . as it continues to power up.

  8. Current speed is 10 960.9878 miles per hour. This in 9 minutes from launch. Wow!

  9. … 1,000 pounds of supplies… Please, please tell us SpaceX really operates in metric SI, and is only translating into American units for the local popular press.

  10. Screen Shot 2012-10-29 at 10.48.44 AM

    "Dragon departed the station early this morning with 1,673 pounds of return cargo including hardware, supplies, and a GLACIER freezer packed with scientific samples. Dragon is the only craft capable of returning a significant amount of supplies to Earth, and this mission marks the first time since the space shuttle that NASA has been able to return research samples for analysis."

  11. That is great news!
    "Glacier freezer" packed with scientific samples – sounds fascinating!!! What are the interesting experiments happening in space right now?

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