Weather forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather at the scheduled time for launch of SpaceX CRS-5. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft is targeted for 4:47 a.m. EST Saturday, Jan. 10, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The primary weather concerns are thick cloud layers and flight through precipitation.

Launch coverage will begin right here on the blog at 3:30 a.m. A Saturday liftoff will result in the Dragon spacecraft arriving at the space station on Monday, Jan. 12. Expedition 42 Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore of NASA will use the station’s 57.7-foot robotic arm to reach out and capture Dragon at 6:12 a.m. Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency will support Wilmore as they operate from the station’s cupola. NASA TV coverage of grapple will begin at 4:30 a.m. Coverage of Dragon’s installation to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin at 8:15 a.m.