Watch live tonight! SpaceX Dragon launching NASA science to space station

Liftoff is at 11:50 p.m. EST (0450 GMT).

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship will launch a fresh haul of NASA science to the International Space Station tonight (March 6) and you can watch it all live here. Liftoff is set for 11:50 p.m. EST (0450 GMT March 7), with NASA’s webcast beginning at 11:30 p.m. EST (0430 GMT).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Dragon’s CRS-20 mission to the space station. Both vehicles have flown before and are making return trips to the station. Dragon CRS-20 is hauling more than 4,300 lbs. (1,950 kilograms) of supplies to the space station.

To read more about the science experiments and other payloads, you can find NASA’s descriptions here.

From NASA:

SpaceX is now targeting March 6 at 11:50 p.m. EST for launch of its 20th commercial resupply services mission (CRS-20) to the International Space Station. During standard preflight inspections, SpaceX identified a valve motor on the second stage engine behaving not as expected and determined the safest and most expedient path to launch is to utilize the next second stage in line that was already at the Cape and ready for flight. The new second stage has already completed the same preflight inspections with all hardware behaving as expected. The updated target launch date provides the time required to complete preflight integration and final checkouts.

The cargo Dragon will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying more than 5,600 pounds of science investigations and cargo to the station, including research on particle foam manufacturing, water droplet formation, the human intestine and other cutting-edge investigations.

From NASA:

NASA will unveil the name of the agency’s next Mars rover, currently known as Mars 2020, during a live event on NASA Television at 1:30 p.m. EST Thursday, March 5, followed by a media teleconference at 3:30 p.m. about the mission and the naming.

The Mars 2020 rover was the subject of a nationwide naming contest in 2019 that drew more than 28,000 essays by K-12 students from every U.S. state and territory. Nearly 4,700 volunteer judges – educators, professionals, and space enthusiasts from around the country – helped narrow the pool down to 155 semifinalists. A second round of judging selected the nine finalist essays that were open to an online public poll before Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, made the final selection.

To participate in the post-event media teleconference, media must send their name and affiliation to Vizza by noon PST Thursday. Media and the public can submit questions on social media by using #AskNASA. Participants may also follow the telecon live on YouTube and Ustream and listen to the event at: http://www.nasa.gov/live

‘ISS Live!’ Tune in to the International Space Station

Find out what the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station are up to by tuning in to the “ISS Live” broadcast. Hear conversations between the crew and mission controllers on Earth and watch them work inside the U.S. segment of the orbiting laboratory. When the crew is off duty, you can enjoy live views of Earth from Space. You can watch and listen in the window below, courtesy of NASA.

“Live video from the International Space Station includes internal views when the crew is on-duty and Earth views at other times. The video is accompanied by audio of conversations between the crew and Mission Control. This video is only available when the space station is in contact with the ground. During ‘loss of signal’ periods, viewers will see a blue screen.

“Since the station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, it experiences a sunrise or a sunset about every 45 minutes. When the station is in darkness, external camera video may appear black, but can sometimes provide spectacular views of lightning or city lights below.”