By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
It is not another satellite or a Tesla but rather a toy dog named Seaman Jr. that will be heading to space this Friday.
In celebration of NASA’s 60th anniversary and the National Trail System’s 50th anniversary, the two organizations have joined up by sending the toy dog. Seaman Jr. is a replica of Seaman, the Newfoundland working dog owned by Capt. Meriwether Lewis and accompanied Lewis and William Clark on their famous expedition to the West.
Seaman Jr. will travel on the SpaceX 15th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Coverage for this launch is set to being at 5:15 a.m. Friday, June 29, with the launch from the Kennedy Space Center targeted for 5:41: 42 a.m. There will be additional post coverage of the launch at 8 a.m. The coverage will be on WKTV Government Channel 26 on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.
Packed with more than 5,900 pounds of research, crew supplies and hardware, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 10 minutes after launch, Dragon reaches its preliminary orbit, at which point it will deploy its solar arrays and begin a carefully choreographed series of thruster firings to reach the International Space Station.
In addition to bringing research and Seaman Jr. to the station, the Dragon’s unpressurized trunk is carrying a new Canadian-built Latching End Effector or LEE. This new LEE is being launched as a spare to replace the failed unit astronauts removed during a series of spacewalks in the fall of 2017. Each end of the Canadrm2 robotic arm has an identical LEE, and they are used as the “hands” that grapple payloads and visiting cargo spaceships. They also enable main truss.
It will take three days for the SpaceX to reach the space station. It is scheduled to arrive Monday, July 2. Coverage of the rendezvous and capture of the SpaceX CRS-15 Dragon Cargo Craft will begin at 5:30 a.m. July 2 with the capture scheduled for 7 a.m. Once again, the coverage will be on WKTV Government Channel 26 on Comcast and AT&T U-verse 99 Government Channel 99.
Seaman Jr. will be abroad the International Space Station through November 2018. You can follow Seaman Jr.’s journal on the Newfle News blog www.nps.gov/lecl/newfle-news.htm. The site also follows the Lewis and Clark Pups, Rocky, Harper, Dakota, and Keelie. The pups will travel more than 3,700 miles to to commemorate and protect the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.
For more information on NASA TV or the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov.
