SpaceX will go ahead and launch its latest cargo ship to the International Space Station today, April 14, despite a "critical" computer outage on the station, according to NASA.
A two-stage Dragon 9 is the third commercial resupply mission to the space station as part of SpaceX's $1.6 billion deal with NASA.
The deal covers 12 deliveries through 2016.
After a number of meetings and reviews of procedures, engineers, managers, and flight controllers determined that the SpaceX mission could run as planned without "violating" and launch commit criteria, according to NASA.
On April 11, a problem occurred with the backup computer command relay box, called a multiplexer/demultiplexer (MDM), which can be found in the ISS' S0 truss.
The box measures 10.5 x 14.9 x 16.4 inches and weighs 50.8 pounds. The issue occurred during a routine health check of the device, according to NASA.
The main multiplexer is fine, and continues to operate "flawlessly."
Engineering teams told mission managers that the station has enough redundancy to let the SpaceX mission to go through with its launch today at approximately 4:59 p.m.
The Dragon spacecraft will launch from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL. It will carry over 5,000-lbs. of supplies and payloads, like VEGGIE, which is a unit capable of growing salad vegetables for astronauts to use.
The launch is already over a month late. It was delayed in March after an issue with a ground-based radar system at Cape Canaveral.
Make sure to check back after to the launch to find out how everything went.
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