Weather is excellent for SpaceX Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Antonia Jaramillo | Florida Today

Show Caption Hide Caption SpaceX Falcon 9 launch to International Space Station to send 'mighty mice' and more SpaceX is targeting a 12:29 p.m. liftoff time of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to the International Space Station on Dec. 5, 2019.

As launch day moves closer and closer, weather looks promising for Wednesday's mission.

Scheduled to liftoff at 12:51 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 40, SpaceX is sending its Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station with science experiments, crew supplies and hardware onboard as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services program.

Weather is currently 90% "go" for launch, as calculated by the U.S. Air Force with the primary concern being winds during liftoff, according to the 45th Weather Squadron.

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"The primary concern is higher surface winds lingering into the launch window Wednesday," according to the 45th Weather Squadron.

The backup opportunity, which is Thursday, has weather at 80% "go" with the primary concern being low-level clouds.

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For this launch, SpaceX will send several science experiments to the space station including:

• Sending "mighty mice" to space: Scientists will send genetically-engineered mice, as well as regular mice up to space to study muscle degradation in microgravity environments and learn how to prevent muscle and bone loss during spaceflight.

• Cold Atom Lab: Researchers will send a major upgrade to the Cold Atom Lab that has been operating on the space station for the past 18 months so they can better study how atoms interact in extremely low temperatures and learn more about the fundamental theories of gravity.

• Confined Combustion: Researchers aim to study how flames spread in differently shaped confined spaces in microgravity.

• Global Barley Research: Researchers aim to look at the impacts of space environment on the germination process, where seeds sprout, of barley seeds. This is part of a series of experiments studying barley seeds as part of Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch's goal to eventually brew beer in space.

Following this launch, Boeing is set to send its Starliner capsule atop United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket no earlier than 7:47 a.m. Dec. 17 from Launch Complex 41 to the space station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

It will be the uncrewed orbital flight test for the aerospace company as teams get ready to once again send astronauts to space from U.S. soil. SpaceX already conducted the uncrewed flight test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft back in March.

Contact Jaramillo at 321-242-3668 or antoniaj@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AntoniaJ_11.

Launch Wednesday

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9

Mission: SpaceX CRS-19

Launch Time: 12:51 p.m.

Launch Window: Instantaneous

Location: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Weather: 90% "go"

Join floridatoday.com/space at 11 a.m. Wednesday for countdown chat and updates, including streaming of SpaceX's launch webcast.