SpaceX launch attempt #2 about an hour from now

[pokerfan]

Live stream: http://www.ustream.tv/nasa#utm_campaign=ustreamsocials

[bananas]

1. I think there are three seperate webcasts

NASA, SpaceX, and Spaceflight Now
Links are at http://hobbyspace.com/nucleus/index.php?itemid=38032

edit to add: here are the three links:

http://www.ustream.tv/nasa#utm_campaign=ustreamsocials

http://www.spacex.com/webcast/

http://www.livestream.com/spaceflightnow?utm_source=lsplayer&utm_medium=embed&utm_campaign=footerlinks

[Rhiannon12866]

2. K&R! Thanks so much!

[pokerfan]

3. Dragon is in orbit

NASA Kennedy / KSC ‏@NASAKennedy
SpaceX Dragon is now in orbit after successful launch this morning. http://twitpic.com/9nx6mo

Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk
Falcon flew perfectly!! Dragon in orbit, comm locked and solar arrays active!! Feels like a giant weight just came off my back

[backscatter712]

4. Awesome launch!

Everybody at SpaceX was in tears of joy when they saw Dragon's solar arrays deploy!

[backscatter712]

5. And am I the only one...

who finds the red, glowing exhaust nozzle of the Falcon 9's second stage to be totally badass?

[backscatter712]

6. The tricky part is yet to come.

On Thursday, Dragon gets reasonably close to the ISS, and begins its tests - a series of sensor and flight systems tests where Dragon has to do a series of complicated maneuvers, getting within 1.5 km of the station. It will also test the abort system, to ensure that Dragon can maneuver away from the station in case of an emergency.

Friday, assuming it passes those tests and gets the go-ahead from NASA, is when it starts edging closer to the station and hopefully ends up berthing there. Of course, NASA is going to want absolute proof that the Dragon is working correctly and safely before it will allow it near the station.